Sword Art Online: Recompiled
by Inferius7809
Summary: A "cover" and take of the story of SAO. Rewritten, and redone.
1. Chapter 1

Foreword

Let me start off by saying I'm absolutely in love with the concept and piece of fiction, known as Sword Art Online. It holds the honor of being the first anime I watched. Throughout school, I always had some sort of negative view towards anime, for whatever reason. My friends would try and get me to watch various series, but I could never quite get into them. Until my roommate at the time, asked if he could show me a series, I asked what it was called, and what it was about. He said it's called "Sword Art Online" and it's about players getting trapped in an MMO. I was sold on concept alone. By that point, I had played World of Warcraft for about 10 years, and had played EVE Online for 6 years as well. I was interested. So, we sat down for a day and watched the entire Aincrad arc. The next day, Alfheim. It was a lazy weekend. But I fell absolutely in love with the series and the world, and yes, even the characters. Throughout the coming weeks, I would expand my horizons in terms of watching various series. My two notable of which besides SAO are Log Horizon, and although technically not anime, The King's Avatar. Noticing a trend here? Anyhow, I started getting involved in the anime community a little bit, watching content creators on YouTube, and reading various subreddits. I started to notice a trend. SAO was the series people loved to hate. I personally couldn't personally see or understand about 90% of the complaints. Usually I'm capable of seeing where people are coming from, but not in this case. It's whatever though, people like what they like, people dislike what they dislike. I like what I like. However, I truly believe that with some improvements, more people can come to like SAO, and I believe everyone should enjoy SAO, it's that good.

And so, this is where the journey begins. This project is intended to improve the story of SAO as much as possible to get the story to as many people as possible, every author's goal, as well as flex my writing habits. A hobby that I find myself doing less and less of as life goes on. I'm not sure what to exactly call this. A rewrite? No. Some of the characters are written the same, some of the characters are written completely differently. Some fall in between. Some game mechanics are expanded on, others are tucked away. Some things are written the same, or changed just slightly, but no direct copy and paste is used. I suppose the best thing to call this project is a cover. Much like a musician cover's another's song. This is my take on Reki Kawahara's World of Swords.

A final note. I do not intend to profit from this in anyway. Full intellectual credit to this story goes to Reki Kawahara, the original creator of SAO. The ideas are his, I just hope to add my take and spin.

\- - Inferius

Prologue

In 2022, the ultimate piece of immersive gaming tech was released. _The NerveGear._ Utilizing "full dive" technology, it transcends all other virtual reality headsets, seamlessly transporting the user into a virtual world, fully programmed with sensory data. Touch, smell, hearing, taste, vision, it's all there. As a cost for this experience, the user lies on their back, almost lifeless, and completely unaware of the real world around them. As all real physical actions are blocked, the only way for oneself to return to the real world, is to use the logout feature. Upon release of this technology, the various consumer protection agencies around the world mandated that the headset come with a backup battery, as it usually runs when plugged into a PC. In the event of a power shortage, the _NerveGear_ can sustain itself for two hours, to give the user time to exit the full dive experience.

Enter _Argus,_ the corporation responsible for the research and development of the _NerveGear_. The researchers of Argus, with Akihiko Kayaba at their head, worked tirelessly to perfect the full dive experience. Coding all sensory perceptions so developers of games on their platform wouldn't have to. No other developer besides Kayaba and his team at _Argus_ would have the ambition to develop a game fully utilizing the _NerveGear_ 's capabilities. Soon, the most comprehensive MMO ever developed would release. November 6th, 2022 fast approached. _NerveGear_ users were prepared for the release of _Sword Art Online_.

It is a cool Autumn day. The time, one in the afternoon. Fifty thousand voices of all ages, races, creeds, and backgrounds could all be heard.

"Link, start!"

Chapter 1

Flashes of blue light could be seen all around the massive starting area. It was relatively plain, a simple stone floor centered in a town, with artificial barriers blocking the exits. After all players were present, a bright blue banner could be seen above them:

" **Welcome, to Sword Art Online"**.

Kazuto swept his character's black hair out of his matching eyes. "Alright world, I'm back!" He exclaimed.

After all had observed and cheered, a white light engulfed the starting area. Players were instantaneously transported to random places in and around _The Town of Beginnings_. Kazuto found himself in a field just outside of town. A little way away from him, he could see a boar feeding on the grass. He figured it may as well be as good of a time as any to try out combat. He drew the sword all player's spawned with, _Era Blade,_ and began his offensive. As he rushed forward, the sword began to glow, and he put more power into the blade. The game seemingly handled the rest, as Kazuto blinked past the boar. The cut could be seen on the boar's side, but it turned around and began to charge at Kazuto. It still had some fight left in it. Kazuto assumed a defensive posture, and performed a simple slash against the boar. The boar was knocked down, and attempted to stand back up, but collapsed. After a brief pause, the boar burst into a beautiful array of polygonal particles, and drifted away into the air like ashes. Kazuto could see his experience bar tick up a few notches. His reward for killing the boar. The combat system felt incredible to Kazuto. It was so smooth, and the game knew perfectly when to assist actions after they had begun to activate combat abilities.

The game's HUD was seamlessly blended into the world. The HUD displaying a player's name, health, experience bar, and level was only present during combat, and wasn't tacked on the user's vision. It could be seen by glancing up and to the left, and it would appear projected to the game world, following the player. This piece of HUD was semitransparent as to be the least intrusive as possible. Other player's names could appear just by looking at the top of their heads, and instantly their character's name and level would appear, as well as their security status. The primary game menu could be opened just by nearly thinking about it, from there, it would appear in front of the thinker, and could be interacted with using touch, much like a smart phone. An enemy's info could be viewed much the same a player's could, except for appearing to the upper left of the enemy, but the projection would remain in the game world until the enemy had been killed or was no longer in combat. The projection was smart enough to always be facing the person combatting it. The game's system knew how to restrict what to show to every player, and would generate separate projections for every piece of HUD, only visible to that particular player viewing it, while remaining invisible to other players not viewing it, with exception made to the menus. Players could see others interact with their menus. After learning the intricacies of the HUD and UI of the game, "Only Kayaba". Kazuto thought.

This was not Kazuto's first full dive experience, but it certainly felt the best out of all of them. This was certainly the first full dive MMO he and the rest of the world had played. No other developer attempted the MMO format for a full dive experience. Kazuto could hear shouting in the distance and to his left. He looked over, and could see a man running towards him. Kazuto did not recognize the man, even though he was shouting.

"Hey!" As the man caught up to Kazuto and hunched down, hands on his knees, and out of breath. The man had a headband containing disheveled hair, and a scruffy beard. The man was of average height and build. He seemed average in every way to Kazuto. "Hey, I saw you take down that boar pretty easily, mind showing a noob like me a couple of tricks?".

"Sure."

The pair ran over to another boar. The man drew his sword and began to wildly swing at the boar.

"Wait." Kazuto said, and stepped in to finish off the boar.

The boar was reduced to polygons, and Kazuto knew what the issue with the man was.

"You're just wildly swinging and expecting the game to do the work for you." Kazuto began to explain. "You have to have some sort of direction in what you're doing. This game doesn't have explicit abilities like other MMOs do, it's largely up to you. If you want to perform a simple slash against an enemy, then you have to mean it. From there, you can almost feel a sort of power emanating from yourself. When you get that feeling, fully commit to your attack, and the game assists you from there."

The puzzled look on the man's face told Kazuto that he didn't offer the greatest explanation.

"Sorry" Kazuto said, "It's tough for me to explain. It comes so natural to me, it's hard to explain the exact mechanisms behind everything I do".

"Oh no, it's fine" the man said, "Let me try on another boar."

They ran over to another boar. The man began to initiate an attack against the boar. In two swift strikes, the boar fell. The man had gotten a better handle on combat. Kazuto and the man practiced more in the field. Kazuto had managed to reach level two in the game.

Several hours had passed, and the two sat in the field, watching the sky as dusk began. The game's time was one to one to the real world's time, and based on time in Tokyo, Japan, where the bulk of the game servers were located. The man sitting next to Kazuto began "Oh, I never asked your name."

Neither Kazuto or the man had bothered glancing up for the game to tell them the names of each other.

"Well, I'm Kirito."Replied Kazuto, answering with his character's name, as was custom "etiquette" for MMOs.

Real names were not typically used in MMOs, so players would traditionally call each other by their in-game names. "Kirito" was a bastardization of Kazuto's full name, Kazuto Kirigaya.

"That's a cool name!" Replied the man.

"How about yours"? Asked Kirito.

"Oh, mine is Klein".

It was simple and ordinary, and Kirito liked it compared to some of the other names he had heard in games over the years.

"Is this your first full dive experience?" Kirito asked.

"Yes it is. I had thought about picking up a _NerveGear_ when it first released, but I figured it wasn't worth the money. But then I heard about SAO and the hype surrounding the game, so I bought one as soon as I could. This is so cool man! We're actually in a game! I've never really even played a game before!" Klein excitedly explained.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool. Nothing beats the first full dive". Kirito replied.

Klein yawned. "Well, I had better get going." Said Klein. "I have a pizza coming at six thirty." Added Klein. Kirito looked at the menu's time, it was six twenty in the evening.

"Yeah, I had probably get going also." Added Kirito. "My mom probably has dinner ready for my sister and myself". He said.

"WHOA! You have a sister!?" Klein asked excitedly. "Is she cute!? Is she in the game!?" Klein continued.

"What? No, she hates video games and loves sports and she's probably too young for you." Kirito replied.

"Sorry man, you can't fault a guy for trying. I forgot we're probably not all the same age playing this game".

This interaction alone proved Klein's past statement of being new in the gaming world. "

Well, I'll see you later man." Klein told Kirito. Klein opened the main menu and navigated to the logout button, but to his shock, was blank. Nonetheless, Klein kept pressing the button, but nothing would happen. "Uhh Kirito, I can't find the log out button." Klein told him.

"Were you looking in the right place? Let me check." Kirito opened the menu, and could not find the log out button either. "Yeah, I don't see it either."

The pair stood, navigating through all possibilities of their menu, and still could not see a logout button.

"Whatever" Kirito began. "It's probably just a glitch. It's launch day, I'm sure the developers are running crazy right now trying to fix everything".

"This isn't cool man! I'm not going to get my pizza I ordered!" Klein went on.

The pair exited their menus, facing each other. Just then they were both engulfed in blue light. They appeared next to each other, and found themselves back in the starting area they were in when first launching the game. The circular area had appeared to be smaller, with less people around then before. The crowd could be seen looking puzzled, and trying to find a way out. Not a minute later, the sky filled with purple holographic hexagons, forming a dome around the area and creating an artificial ceiling. Blood began pouring from the ceiling, but stopped mid fall and began pooling and forming. Everyone's gaze was fixed to the blood, which was now forming from the shapeless blob in the sky. A giant hooded figure was formed from the blood. This figure had no face, only darkness. This figure had no limbs, only darkness. The only thing giving this figure shape was a crimson and gold robe, filled out as if a normal man had been wearing it.

"Welcome, to my world." Boomed the figure to the crowd. "I, am Akihiko Kayaba. And as I'm sure many of you are aware, the logout button has been removed. This is not a glitch or an error. This is intentional."

People in the crowd adorned looks of shock and disbelief. What did this mean for them?

"Furthermore," The figure continued "Upon transportation to this area, all players not on Japanese servers have been logged out, and are safe. The ten thousand of you that remain, are now in the game, until it is cleared. If you want to return to the real world, you must clear all 100 floors and their accompanying bosses. Only then will you be logged out."

Screams and shouts began emanating from the crowd, but the figure's voice overpowered them all.

"More so, if you die in the game, the _NerveGear_ is programmed to overheat its battery, causing it to explode. This action will kill you. Any attempts from external forces to remove the _NerveGear_ from your person, will result in the battery exploding as well. Any attempts to sever the connection to the game, will also result in your death. Due to this, approximately 206 players have perished. This news has reached all major sources, and has triggered the emergency alert system warning against disruption. I would calculate the chances of deaths occurring like this to be close to zero now. Most of you are being transported to hospitals, where _Argus_ corporation has donated enough money to keep all the players sustained for an indefinite amount of time."

The people of the crowd entered panicked states. How could this be happening? So many of them wondered.

"Lastly," echoed the voice "I have placed a gift in every one's inventory. Please open it and use it."

Kirito found the item. It was a mirror. He pressed the command to take it out and the mirror materialized in his hand. He was staring at his character, before being engulfed in white light. When the light vanished, he was staring at himself. His in-game persona's appearance had been perfectly replicated to his real-life self's appearance. His longish black hair, thin stature, and soft facial structure. Everything had been recreated perfectly. Everyone could see the 15-year-old who was Kazuto. He observed the process happening to everyone else in the crowd. Some males became females, and females became males. Standing next to him, Klein looked the same, but slightly older. Klein turned to face Kirito.

"Is…that you, Kirito?" He asked. Kirito nodded.

"I bid you all farewell." Boomed the figure, and it quickly evaporated.

The crowd was motionless and shocked, until Kirito grabbed Klein and shouted at him to follow. The two ran out of the circular area, and into a side street of the town.

"We need to make it to the next town over. The fields with enemies will be over saturated here, with everyone trying to level up and get stronger. If we make it to the next town, then we can have the area practically to ourselves, and level up quicker." Kirito explained to Klein.

"Oh…..well I uhh….I came to this game with a couple friends of mine, and I was going to try and find them and group up with them." Klein said.

This troubled Kirito, leveling would be slow enough with the experience split for two people, but he was willing to take the hit to help Klein. But more people? They wouldn't get anything done quickly.

"Ok, I understand." Replied Kirito.

"Don't worry about it, I can take care of myself." Said Klein. "You be careful, and come back alive, ok?" Asked Klein.

"Same to you as well." Said Kirito. "Maybe I'll see you again someday, Klein." Klein smiled.

"Same to you, Kirito."

Klein sprinted away, back towards the starting area. Kirito began running towards the next town, following his map. He had to reach his destination by night fall ideally, not wanting to contend with any unknown creatures that may come at night. Kirito's resolve strengthened. He was determined to survive. He was determined to clear all one hundred daunting floors. He would beat Kayaba at this death game.

* * *

"Kazuto, come get your dinner!" Shouted Kazuto's mother from the kitchen to the upstairs bedroom.

"There's no point, mom." Replied Suguha, Kazuto's younger sister. "He's using the _NerveGear_. A new game released for it today, and he hasn't stopped talking about it for the past few months." Continued Suguha.

"Oh, well could you remove the headset from him? His meal will get cold. I know it may seem rude, but it won't hurt him, right?" Asked Kazuto's mother.

"Right, I got it."

Just as Suguha began to walk up the stairs, the TV jolted on, and the emergency alert tone could be heard. Suguha and her mother both turned their attention to the warning message to follow.

"Attention, families of those playing _Sword Art Online_. Due to the nature of the game, do not attempt to separate loved ones from their _NerveGear_ devices. Doing so will result in their death. I repeat, removing the _NerveGear_ helmets will cause their death. Do not remove the _NerveGear_ devices. Medical personnel have been dispatched to homes to facilitate the safe transportation of players. Please stay calm."

Suguha and her mother rushed up the stairs to Kazuto's room.

"Kazuto, wake up!" Shouted Suguha.

She began shaking her brother's body, as if she was trying to wake him up from a nap. Her shaking got more violent.

"Stop!" commanded her mother. "You may accidentally damage the connection between him and the device." Suguha burst into tears.

"How could this happen?" She cried. Her mother was also struggling to hold back tears.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the front door. Suguha answered, and was greeted by a team of paramedics.

"Hello miss, we're aware that there is a victim of _Argus_ corporation here, we've come to transport him safely. May I speak to your mother or father?"

Suguha's mom came up to them.

"Ma'am, is it alright if we transport your son? It will probably be the best thing for him, given the current situation."

"Yes, go ahead." Kirito's mother consented.

The team of paramedics found Kirito laying on his bed. The mattress he was laying on was narrow enough to fit in the ambulance. The paramedics lifted the mattress as well as the necessary equipment for the _NerveGear_ and loaded it into the back of the ambulance. Suguha and her mother followed the ambulance to the hospital. Kazuto was placed on a hospital bed, with various nutritional support devices hooked up to him. This is how he would exist in the real world, while adventuring in SAO.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Klein looked back to see Kirito running the opposite direction.

"Take care of yourself." Klein remarked to no one. He continued running towards the starting area of town, hoping to catch one of his friends.

"Ryoutarou, is that you?" A passerby stopped Klein.

"Whoa, Haruto. I'm glad I found you."

"Yeah, I thought I saw your red headband." Replied Haruto, pointing upwards to the sweat covered piece of cloth tied to Klein's head.

"We have to start calling ourselves by our character names, Haro. Although, I'm not sure how much the character still exists. This game is real now. We're alive, in _Aincrad_." Klein told Haro.

"That may take some getting used to. The rest of our friends are freaking out over there. You should go see them. We need to stick together in this. That'll probably be our best bet for survival."

"Yeah, makes sense, come on, let's go." Klein couldn't help but think back to Kirito. "He was so certain to move, that he went alone," Klein thought. "I hope he'll be ok."

Klein ran behind Haro a short distance. Eventually, they stopped at an alleyway, where they found two other people sitting against the wall, one of them was sobbing.

"Hey guys, look who I found!" Haro said excitedly pointing out Klein to the rest of his friends.

"Glad you could make it, _Klein_." Soma stood up, and high fived Klein.

"Oh no, what's wrong with…Lis over there?" Asked Klein, hesitating to call the sobbing girl by her character's name, and pointing to her.

"She's taking things pretty hard. She's still a teenager man. To be forcefully removed from your family and trapped like this." Soma replied. There was a hint of anger in his voice "I'm going to make Kayaba pay for this." The anger was growing in Soma, and his fist was clenching, turning white.

"Calm down, Soma." Haro said.

Klein walked over to Lis, and crouched over her. "Hey, Rika, it's Ryoutarou." Klein understood that the etiquette was to call everyone by their character's names from now on, but this situation called for more of a human touch. "It's Ryoutarou from the cafe. Do you recognize me?"

"Ryoutarou…...Klein." Lis said looking up to Klein. "Yes, I do. You're trapped here also?"

"Yup, sure am."

Lis wiped the tears from her eyes. She didn't know of any of her friends that came to _Aincrad_. The closest thing she had to friends in _Aincrad_ was Haro and Klein, who she recognized as baristas from the cafe she stopped at after school, almost every day.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make a mess of myself. Give me a minute to get my things together and I'll be good to go!". Lis eventually stood up, her eyes still dark from the tears,

"We shouldn't stay here." Stated Klein. "Once people get organized like this, they're going to start killing the creatures just outside of town. The field is big, but not that big. There's no way the field can support almost ten thousand players. Lines will start forming, and the leveling process will be slow. We also can't discount the fact that the field isn't a safe zone. Players may try combat with other players. There's a town to the North West. If we start now, we can hopefully just make it there after nightfall. There will be plenty of creatures there for us to kill and get stronger with. The creatures may be more difficult, but as a group we shouldn't have any issues."

"Well look at you, mister leader." Teased Soma. "I thought you never played a game before, Klein."

"I haven't. Let's just say I took inspiration from someone. Does moving on sound good to you all?"

"That's a good idea." Concurred Soma and Haro. "Lis, does that sound good to you?" Asked Haro.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan." Came the reply.

The group began their walk to the North West. The path was ambiguous, as the map didn't label the town until they discovered it for themselves. All they had to go on was the road leading in the correct direction. They heard wolves howling from somewhere ahead.

"Uh oh, that doesn't sound good." Soma remarked.

"Draw your weapons," Ordered Klein, "And be ready for some action." The group shrunk the space between them, and went on alert. A rustling in the tall grass beside them could be heard. A glimmer of eyes was briefly seen, before a wolf black as night leaped out of the grass and onto Lis.

"Ahhhh, help me!" Pleaded Lis, trying her best to fend off the wolf with her sword. "Please!"

"Hang on, Lis!" Came Klein's reply, he tackled the wolf from Lis, before getting jumped on himself. He shoved the wolf off, and could stand up. The group was getting stared down by a pack of four wolves, encircling them.

"Let's go!" Shouted Haro, leaping into action.

Glowing swords indicating attacks could be seen all around. Cuts and gashes appearing on the wolves after each strike. Lis was struggling to take down her wolf. She just couldn't quite get her sword to power up like the others could to initiate attacks. After dispatching his wolf, Klein looked over to see Lis struggling. He charged and initiated an attack. A direct hit landed directly on the wolf, and it turned to polygons.

"I-I'm s-sorry," Began Lis, tears welling in her eyes. "I panicked and froze, I couldn't fight the wolf off, even though it all seemed so simple to you all. You had to save me Klein, thank you."

"Hey, don't sweat it." Replied Klein. "Once we get to the next town, I can help you out with the combat system."

"Thank you."

"Let's keep going."

The group continued, they could eventually see some lantern light in the distance. The sun had fully set, and the moon's glow was rising.

"Hey, that must be the town!" Exclaimed Soma. "Let's go!"

The group sprinted the rest of the distance to the town, and purchased rooms at the inn for the night. Lis lied in her bed, staring at the ceiling. "Mom, Dad, I'll be home someday. I will come back some day." She thought and smiled, before drifting off to sleep.

"Man. What. A Day." Stretched Klein, sparking a conversation with Haro and Soma in the inn's living area.

"Yeah." Replied Soma, looking down from his chair.

"So Klein," Began Haro, "How did you think to get to the next town?"

"Well, there was this guy I met before we knew we were trapped here. I saw him kicking the ass of some boar, and ran over to him, hoping he could teach me how to get by in _Aincrad_. We killed boar with each other for a few hours, until I went to logout to go eat. And then, _it_ happened. After the announcement, he wanted to take me to this town, but I told him I wanted to find you guys, and he went off alone. He probably made it and is somewhere in the area."

"Do you want to meet back up with him?" Asked soma.

"No, if he wants to group with us, he'll find us. From what I saw of him, he's more than capable of handling himself."

"Fair enough." Ended Soma.

The trio each retired to their rooms for the evening. They had survived their first day in _Aincrad_.

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"Kazuto, please, wake up soon." Suguha requested, squeezing his hand. Suguha and her mother were at Kazuto's bed side, and couldn't bring themselves to leave the hospital room.

"Sugu, we should go. It's getting late." Said her mom.

"You're right, let's go." Suguha agreed, releasing Kazuto's hand. Her mom went to kiss Kazuto on his forehead, but was stopped by the _NerveGear_ covering his forehead. So, she settled for the device itself.

"Hey mom?" Began Suguha.

"What is it, dear?" Responded her mother.

"Why…does it hurt so much? I mean Kazuto and I weren't super close, and haven't been since we were little. Why do I feel such sorrow for him?"

"Well, it's because he's still your brother. I know you two fight a lot lately but deep down, you still care for him also. I'm sure he misses you already also."

"Ok, I guess that makes sense." Concluded Suguha, not having the energy to argue or continue the conversation.

The car ride home was silent between Suguha and her mother. What more could be said between the two of them? They were both exhausted, and needed some time to fully process the situation.

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Kirito had successfully reached _Horunka_ , a tiny village just to the north west of _The Town of Beginnings_. Just in time as well, as the sun was just setting over the horizon, shrouding the world in darkness. He decided to stay at the inn for the night, and get an early start the next day. He paid the inn keeper for a room with the starting amount of gold given to players. He took off his equipment, and laid down. It was comfy enough. He took a deep breath and sighed, processing all that had happened in the last few hours. He pulled up the in-game map, and there he could see it. _Aincrad._ _Aincrad_ is the world that SAO is set in, and takes the form of a massive iron castle floating in the sky. The castle is divided into floors, with one hundred total. To reach the next floor, the previous floor had to be cleared by beating the boss on each floor, in a hidden dungeon. Each floor more daunting then the next. "I must do this. I must survive." Kirito thought. He closed the map, and closed his eyes. Drifting into sleep.

A lonesome girl sat underneath a bridge in _The Town of Beginnings_. Her crimson cowl pulled over her chestnut hair and hazel eyes. Her knees tucked to her chest, and her head buried in-between. She was struggling to produce any more tears. Her mind was almost completely blank. She couldn't lament her situation any more than she already had. She drifted off to sleep. The stone floor and wall would make a fine mattress for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

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 _Japan, November 7th 2022._

"Kazuto, I'm off to practice, I'll see you at…oh, that's right." Suguha was leaving her house and notifying Kazuto just like any other day. "Old habits die hard, I guess." Thought Suguha. It had become custom for her to shout up at Kazuto's room when she was leaving, so at least Kazuto knew he was alone. Whether or not he cared was a different story. In this case, no one was there for Suguha to shout to. Something that would take her getting used to.

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 _1_ _st_ _Floor, Horunka Village, Aincrad. November 7_ _th_ _2022_

Kirito awoke just before sunrise. He thought he had slept surprisingly well, all things considered. The _NerveGear_ full dive captured the human experience completely. Although sleeping and eating wouldn't do anything for him in real life, the feelings and effects of food and sleep were simulated. He retrieved a bread roll from his inventory and devoured it. He usually wasn't too hungry in the mornings, but today was an exception. He set out to the forest just North of _Horunka_ , the tree line only a quick walk from town. After breaching the tree line to no event, he finally encountered what he came there for. On a large pine tree ahead of Kirito crawled down a massive spider. It's eyes not breaking contact with him as it was moving. Kirito glanced up for its' info. The spider appeared as a normal _Bark Spider_ and he observed it was a level six. Kirito, still sitting at level two, knew this would be a tough fight, but the experience reward would be well worth it. The spider began the fight by spitting a ball of web at Kirito, which he easily dodged. Kirito leaped into the air, slashing at the spider and landing a minor hit, but the spider was unfazed. The spider turned around and began to charge at Kirito with its front legs raised up. Kirito charged straight back at it, landing a more significant hit. Kirito looked back to see the damage he had done. The spider was missing a leg due to the blow Kirito had connected with.

"Whoa, that can happen?" Kirito thought. He didn't know the system simulated body parts to the extent of being severed, let alone simulating individual limb damage as well. He figured it was true for players, but not NPCs. He checked the status bar of the _Bark Spider_. It's health bar was in the red, and was not going down over time like he began to suspect could have been a possibility. "No bleed damage, good to know." Kirito thought. He made one last thrust towards the spider and the beast was slain. "That wasn't too bad." He thought. Kirito watched his experience bar tick up a significant portion, almost to another level. "Well, it only gets easier from here." He continued onward, deeper and deeper into the forest.

"Rise and shine, guys!" Shouted Klein towards the rest of the inn. It was already late morning and he couldn't find any trace of his friends. He hadn't seen anyone else check in, so he figured he wouldn't be disturbing other guests. A few minutes later, Klein's friends began to meander out of their rooms, some still half asleep. First Soma, followed by Lis and Haro shortly after.

"What time is it?" Yawned Haro.

"It, is eleven in the morning, lazy bum." Replied Klein. "Grab your gear, and let's get out of here!"

"Alright sounds good." The three said in unison. After a brief time, the group was ready, and set out to forest North of _Horunka_. They walked through the woods, with not a creature in sight

"Damn," Said Klein. "I thought there would be monsters here we could face. But it's dead. I never saw anyone else enter the forest. Is it really this sparse?"

"Let's just keep going, I'm sure we'll find action somewhere!" Lis smiled. She was eager to learn more today, to prevent another "wolf incident" from occurring. The group continued through the forest, with not a living thing in sight. They arrived at a mountain side. They had reached the end of the woods.

"Well, I guess we better turn back." Said Klein.

"Wait," Started Lis. "Do you guys hear that?" The group went silent, and a feint howling could be heard in the distance. The howling was constant, so it wasn't coming from wolves. "Let's go check it out!" Lis shouted as she ran off. The rest of the group followed her. They eventually arrived at a cave entrance.

"Oh, now this is what I'm talking about. I'm sure we'll find some monsters in here to fight!" Said Soma, excitedly.

"Alright guys, let's go in, but we must be very careful. Remember, we all have to come back." Replied Klein. The group marched onward into the cave.

"Man, still nothing." Remarked Haro. The group had been wandering the cave for twenty minutes, and couldn't find any signs of life.

"We shouldn't waste our time here, let's go." Ordered Klein. The group made their back through the cave, and could almost see the entrance.

"Look, we're almost the- "Soma had been cut off. Lis watching him from behind saw him fall through the floor. Klein and Haro looked back.

"H-he fell through the ground?" Lis said, pointing to the hole where Soma once was.

"Soma, can you hear me? Are you alright?" Shouted Klein.

"Yeah, I'm fine! I think I'm in some sort of den. There are tons of webs around here." Came the reply. Soma observed his new surroundings. In one of the corners of the room, he saw beady eyes staring back at him. "Guys, I'm not alone down here!".

"Hang on, we're coming!" Klein said, jumping through the hole. Lis and Haro followed.

All landing with a thud, Klein, Lis and Haro all joined Soma in the pit. As they looked around, they saw the same set of beady eyes Soma had seen. From the shadows, it appeared. _Arana, Queen of the Arachne_. Level 10. Thousands of tinier spiders began to spill off her back, and scurry across the room. They were harmless. _Arana_ reared up, and began her attack, charging at Soma. Soma held his sword up in a defensive posture, and absorbed the brunt of the attack, but skidded back on his feet due to the force of the charge. More sets of eyes could be seen in the shadows, before revealing themselves to be _Arana's_ workers, here to defend their queen.

"This isn't good!" Shouted Klein. "Haro, Lis, try and pull the other spiders away from the queen. Soma and I will handle her!"

"Got it!" Lis and Haro both shouted back. They began to run around the lair, distracting the workers by scratching them with their swords. Lis and Haro were faced with a horde surrounding them.

"I hope these are easier than the wolves we fought earlier!" Exclaimed Lis. She looked over to Haro, who was wiping out masses with singular strikes. The workers didn't have a lot of HP, just relying on overwhelming numbers, and were weak even compared to the level one players. Lis began her charge. She felt a strange feeling while striking, but was still unable to initiate any full attacks. "Once more." She thought and charged again. Lis felt the same strange feeling and on a whim added more power to her attack. She was greeted with the sight of her sword glowing as she attacked. She looked back at the spiders she struck, their health bars had all dwindled to zero, and the flurry of polygons could be seen rising from the corpses.

"Nice job Lis, you did it!" Shouted Haro. "But, there are still plenty more!"

The two continued their battle. Klein and Soma were barely managing _Arana_. Barely able to get attacks in between dodging her attacks. Even when they did attack, _Arana_ 's health bar would barely shrink. She was almost too strong for them, Klein and Soma knew that due to the difference in level, a single attack landing from _Arana_ would send them to the grave. _Arana_ went to charge at Soma.

"Watch out!" Warned Klein.

"Don't worry, I got it!" As Soma leapt to the side. He noticed his health bar tick down a slight bit. Klein noticed the same thing, and looked over at him.\

"She must have nicked me. I'm alright though!"

Haro and Lis had disposed of the workers, at least for the time being, and went to join Soma and Klein fighting _Arana_.

"How's it going over here?" Asked Lis.

"Not good!" Replied Klein, dodging an attack. "We've barely put a mark on her." Lis looked at _Arana_ 's health. Klein was correct, _Arana_ 's health bar looked like it had barely moved. The four continued the fight, making slow progress. It was much easier to get attacks in with four of them fighting _Arana_. Lis looked up to check _Arana_ 's health.

"Hey guys, her health is in the yellow now!" The others looked up and confirmed. _Arana_ seemed almost surprised at this as well. The spider queen leapt up into the air, and free fell with all her legs extended.

"Don't get pinned!" Screamed Soma, running from the falling mass of spider. Soma looked through the cloud of dust created by the impact. "Klein, no!" Soma looked over and saw Klein pinned under a tip of _Arana_ 's leg. Struggled as he may, Klein wasn't going anywhere. Noticing she had caught prey, _Arana_ focused her attention to Klein. The spider queen began to pull back to thrust with her fangs towards Klein to kill her entrapped victim. Klein closed his eyes, waiting for death to take him. He would be free from Aincrad after only a day, but he wasn't ready yet. He wanted to wake up in the hospital bed, thinking it was all a bad dream. He wanted to make coffee for Lis again. He wanted to survive Aincrad, but now, he would be free after only a day.

There was a flash of light, and a splatter of blood. Klein opened his eyes to see a figure in front of him, sword drawn. He looked down to his abdomen where the spider had him pinned. There was a piece of leg sticking out of him, with no spider attached. Klein felt a huge wave of relief wash over him, and looked up at the figure again. "Kirito!" Exclaimed Klein.

"Stay back, I can handle the rest of this!" Kirito replied, charging forward for an attack. His sword strikes were illuminating the lair, each more aggressive and damaging than the last.

"He's so quick." Thought Lis. "I've never seen someone so adept. Has he really only been playing for a day?"

 _Arana_ 's full attention was now on Kirito, as the rest of the group had ceased their attack. Kirito went in for a sprinting strike, severing one of the fangs. At the end of his stride, he caught the fang and wielded it in his left hand. Kirito made a final leap into the air, and drove his sword and the fang into _Arana_ 's head. Her body went limp and collapsed, before dissipating into the beautiful polygonal array all creatures did. More polygons released with her than any other enemy Kirito had seen killed.

A menu box opened to Kirito. "Congratulation!" exclaimed the box. After the message flashed the menu contained the description for an item. _Breastplate of Silk_.

"Kirito, what are you doing here?" Asked Klein.

"I would ask the same of you." Kirito replied.

"Well, I took your advice and decided it'd be best for my friends and I to get to the next town, like you said you were doing. We stayed at the inn for the night and went out into the forest to try and get leveled up and hone our skills. But we couldn't find anything besides _Arana_."

Kirito glanced up at Klein's level, _Level 3_ , and assumed that was only recently achieved by the death of _Arana_. "It was foolish for you guys to tackle this at your level. Even if there were four of you."

"Well, we tried to level up, but couldn't find any creatures in the forest or the cave. Soma here fell through a trap and into this lair here. We jumped after him, and well you can figure out what happened next. I assume the lack of creatures is due to you?" Klein asked, glancing up at Kirito's level. _Level 6_.

"Yeah, I killed most of the creatures in the forest and the cave. I left the inn just before dawn. I was resting when I heard fighting going on from below me in the cave. I wandered around a bit, and found the entrance to the lair."

"Well, thanks anyway. Wait a minute, do we get anything for killing _Arana?_ Was all of that work for nothing?"

"No, you got experience. Check your levels right now." Klein Lis, Soma, and Haro all checked. _Level 3_. "But, the piece of gear dropped from _Arana_ only goes to the person who dealt the killing blow. Look here." Kirito equipped the breastplate that dropped. "The experience is split by those who were in combat with her. We all got an even portion. My bar moved a bit, but yours completed at least twice. Klein, please be more careful. This isn't just a game anymore." Kirito began to walk away to the exit.

"Wait, Kirito-" Just as Klein said that, Soma dropped to the ground. "Soma!" The four rushed over to him. "What's wrong?"

Soma could only manage a cough, trying to speak. Kirito glanced to Soma's health. It was gradually going down, and was already in the red. Over the red, Kirito could see it, a feint purple tinge around the health bar. Hard to see around the fog and darkness of the cave. "

"He's been poisoned. Did he get hit during the fight?" Asked Kirito.

"Yeah, he got nicked by an attack and didn't think much of it. His health only ticked down a little bit."

"That attack must have been with one of her fangs. They were laced with poison. He must not have noticed due to the excitement of the fight. His health has been going down this entire time." Kirito held up Soma's arm, revealing a seemingly minor scratch. "This must be the hit."

"Well, what do we do? We can't just let him die!" Lis said distressed, tears beginning in her eyes.

"Does anyone have an antidote on them?" Asked Kirito. The three of them all looked around puzzled. "Then there's nothing we can do. I'm sorry Klein."

"Kirito, you don't have an antidote on you?" Asked Klein.

"No, I never picked one up at the inn. I figured I didn't need it as long as I didn't get hit."

"Damn it! Soma, I'm so sorry…" Klein began sobbing.

Haro and Lis put their hands around Klein and Soma. "Klein, please keep the others safe. P-please, put an end to this world. Put an end to Kayaba." Wished Soma, taking his last breath. Instantly Soma disappeared, dissipating into the polygonal ash signifying death, leaving Klein and the others holding air. All they could do is sit on their knees, defeated, where Soma once was...

"Klein, I'm sorry." Said Kirito, walking off into the darkness of the cave. Kirito didn't want to show it, but he was deeply saddened by the death of Soma. He never knew him, but regardless, the death of someone in front of you has an effect. Kirito hoped to never have to experience that again, by means of being solo as much as possible, he thought would be the best preventative measure. "It's only the second day, and this world is already unforgiving." Kirito thought. "I'm not dying. I will fight to the end, relentlessly, and put an end to these people's misery. Even if I have to do it alone."


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note:_ Hello! I appreciate all who have read thus far. Thank you to the reviewer who provided some initial feedback, I've done my best to implement it in my writing. With that being said, the format for things like scene switches and location data is more or less finalized, with only minor changes coming to it. I have a better idea of organization for the story now, so things like chapter titles will be added as well. Also the first two chapters will be updated due to formatting concerns. This only largely affects dialogue structure, not any story details. Please enjoy chapter four, and the rest of the story. - Inferius

Chapter 4: Adjustment

 _14th November, 2022. Aincrad, Floor 1, The Town Of Beginnings_

Kirito sat alone at the park bench, eating his lunch. A simple sandwich he bought from the NPCs. The simulated food tasted alright in _Aincrad_ , and could be furthered enhanced by additives like mayonnaise or butter. Typically not enjoying mayonnaise in the real world, the only way Kirito could stomach the virtual sandwich was by adding mayonnaise to it. Kirito's level and gear hadn't increased in the week since fighting _Arana_. All of the creatures on floor one no longer yielded experience to Kirito. Even when killing _Arana_ again the game recognized he had done it already, and no longer awarded experience. Kirito had considered the thought that _Arana_ could have been the floor's boss, but due to the second floor not opening up and _Arana_ respawning after a short delay, it was not the case. He hadn't seen Klein or his friends that he rescued from the cave in a week, and hoped they were doing alright, as Kirito nor Klein bothered to add each other to the in game "Friends List", which would have allowed the viewing of their location from the menu system. A couple sat down next to Kirito with their lunch. The woman had blue hair, and the man had a haircut that could only be found in _Aincrad._ Further character customizations were limited ever since the first day. Major physical appearances could not be changed, but minor things like hair and tattoos could be.

"Have you killed _Arana_ yet?" The man asked the woman.

"Oh no, not yet." Came the reply.

"Well you should, if you want to have a hope of beating the floor boss. _Arana_ drops a breast plate that I'm sure would be useful for the fight. You should get into a group to go do it. Even if you don't get the last hit, the experience gain is worth it."

"Well, I've considered it. It's just that spiders scare me to death. I'd rather fight a murderous rabbit or something else absurd besides spiders." She giggled.

"You haven't heard anything about the floor boss have you?"

"No," Began the woman. " _Arana_ has been the closest thing so far. No one has even found the dungeon leading to the floor boss yet."

"Clearing the game may take a while then. It's been a week and no one is close to even completing the first floor."

"Well, that's just the thing though. It's only been a week. People are still getting adjusted to _Aincrad_. This first floor may take a while just because of this adjustment period, but after that, it'll probably get quicker. Let people figure out how to live in the world, and then we can focus on escaping it."

"Fair enough." Concluded the man.

"Have you heard the latest rumor though?" The woman asked, resparking the conversation.

"No, rumor about what?"

"There's a quest found out in the forest near _Arana_. No one has talked about completing it yet. Apparently, it gives you the antidote to _Arana's_ poison."

"That could definitely be life saving if you lead a group to kill _Arana_."

Kirito looked up. That antidote could have saved Soma. Regardless, it was content, and although he had no use for the antidote now, he was bored and wanted to do something. In his way out from _The_ _Town of Beginnings_ he stopped by a blacksmith to see about a new weapon. The _Era_ _Blade_ that everyone started out with was fine enough for the first floor, and was a one handed long sword, which had suited Kirito's fighting style thus far. None of the weapons at the blacksmith had stats too significantly higher than the _Era Blade_ , outside of the difference found weapon type variation. Kirito examined and tested many weapons from the merchant. Rapiers, polearms, axes, and maces. They all felt too slow compared to his sword, except for the rapier, which was almost too fast and light for Kirito's liking. He didn't even bother with the two handed options of each weapon. Sure you could get higher damage numbers with two handed weapons, but it wasn't worth the hit in both attack speed and mobility. He left the shop with a full wallet. _Era Blade_ would do for now. Kirito departed for the forest near _Horunka_.

"Alright, nice job Lis!" Shouted Klein.

"Thanks!" Lis replied, standing proud over a newly deceased spider. The group had spent the past week in _Horunka_ , taking day trips to the forest in order get better at combat as well as more experience points to increase their levels. Lis had become relatively proficient at combat over the past week, surpassing Haro and almost matching Klein. After witnessing Kirito fight, she wanted to get as skilled as him.

"Let's practice group fights now!" Klein said, dashing off into the forest. He returned to Haro and Lis with a group of 8 spiders following him. "This may may be too much, but we got this!" After a fierce battle, the group had emerged victorious. "Alright guys, let's break for lunch!" Suggested Klein.

Kirito wandered through the forest of _Horunka,_ he could hear laughing coming from deeper in the forest. He wandered some more, before coming across Klein and his friends. Klein looked up from his sandwich.

"Kirito, hey, how have you been man?" Asked Klein, standing up.

"Klein, good to see you again." Greeted Kirito

"Aw man, you wandered off after the _Arana_ fight, I haven't seen you in a week!"

"What are you guys doing out here?"

"We've been out here practicing our skills against the spiders of the forest. What are you doing?"

"I've heard that there may be a quest that rewards a cure for _Arana's_ venom. So I came out here to go do it."

"Why would you need it? I thought you were past the point of fighting _Arana_."

"I am, but I'm bored. I can't gain levels off of the creatures of this floor anymore. And besides, it may come in handy someday."

"Well, mind if we tag along?"

"Sure."

Klein invited Kirito to his party. The party system allowed the game to determine how to split experience points from killed monsters, as well as other features like viewing a party member's location on the map, a shared feature from the friends list. If someone in a party of four killed a creature, it's experience was split evenly among the members in a thirty meter vicinity, even if a member in the range didn't actually participate in combat. If someone not in a party as well as party members killed a creature, experience was split two ways. Half of the experience dropped would go solely to the player not in the party. The other half would be further split evenly among the players in a party. _Aincrad_ rewarded solo players, for those daring enough to do it. The group journeyed deeper into the forest, almost to _Arana's_ cave, before finding a NPC hiding in a grove. The quest had been found.

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Suguha was sitting by Kazuto's bedside. Everyday after school and kendo practice, she would go to visit him, just to make sure he was still alive. Very little information from _Sword Art Online_ made it back to the outside world. Occasionally logs would be released, but the details were sparse. The only information was a list of deceased, and the number of floors cleared. _Argus_ was already facing numerous lawsuits and backlash from the Japanese government. Pretty soon, server maintenance and the entire _Sword Art Online_ "project" would be transferred to another "trusted" entity. The hospital was quiet today. The silence was broken by the squeaking of wheels coming down the hallway towards Kazuto's room. Suguha glanced towards the hallway, and saw hospital staff transporting a body, covered by a bag.

"Another one perished." Thought Suguha. The latest log was released only two days prior, and the number of floors cleared still remained at zero. "Please hurry back, Kazuto." She hoped that logs would become more frequent when _Argus_ relinquished control. It had already come out in various court hearings that attempts to shutdown the servers would only cause the death of all players still logged in. The only way to safely end the game and logout the players would be to clear the game. _Argus_ had thought of the long term. Suguha released Kazuto's hand, and departed.

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"Thank you so much, here is the payment as promised!" The NPC said with a wide grin, and gave Kirito the antidote to _Arana's_ venom. Kirito looked around, and noticed Lis.

"Here, keep this." Kirito said, tossing the antidote to Lis. "You still don't have the breastplate. You'll need to fight _Arana_ , take this just in case."

"Thanks!" Lis replied.

"Oh, I never caught your names. I know Klein, but what's yours?" Kirito asked.

"It's Lisbeth. But just Lis for short. That's Haro." Lis said, pointing towards Haro.

"Nice to meet you all, formally this time." Kirito said.

"What do you plan on doing now? Klein asked.

"I'll probably just head back towards _The Town Of Beginnings_. I may start looking for the floor boss as well. How about you guys?" Kirito asked.

"We'll probably keep practicing out here for a bit. Eventually, we'll fight _Arana_ again to try and get Lis her breast plate. Maybe after that, we'll join the search for the boss room."

"Take care of yourselves." Kirito said, leaving the party and beginning to walk away back towards town.

"Wait, Kirito!" Klein dashed towards him, stopping him in his tracks. "We should add each other." Klein began to pull up his friends menu.

"Alright, I guess." Said Kirito. Immediately Klein had a dot on Kirito's map.

Kirito returned to _The Town of Beginnings_ and returned to his long term rental room at the inn. "Where could the boss possibly be?" Thought Kirito. That was for another day. For now, he would rest.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Search

 _15th November, 2022. Aincrad, Floor 1, The Town Of Beginnings_

Kirito departed from town at the crack of dawn. He and the others had been trapped in _Aincrad_ for almost two weeks, and no one had found the floor boss yet. Several groups had organised search parties, but Kirito had no intention of joining them, figuring that he could cover more ground if he was alone and moving at his own pace. He had a hunch that the dungeon leading to the floor boss was located in the cliffs somewhere along the east of _Floor 1_. The hike was grueling. Kirito often found himself slipping due to one misstep. He was being astute, examining every stone and rock wall he could find, hoping that one of them would collapse into a hidden door revealing the boss dungeon, like true video game fashion. After six hours, Kirito breaked for lunch, and was none the closer to finding the dungeon.

The chestnut-haired girl wandered through _The Town of Beginnings_ , looking for something, anything to do. She had already killed _Arana_ , and was close to capping out the levels _Floor 1_ could provide her. The only way she could further increase hers was to participate in the _Arana_ fight again, which she wouldn't dare due to a close call when fighting her. A rip in the back of her cowl showed the battle damage. Had _Arana_ swiped more than the cowl, she would have been poisoned, and perished like many others had fighting _Arana._ Eventually she made her way to the blacksmith shop. It was NPC run, so she couldn't haggle prices, but luckily gold wasn't an issue for her. She tried out the inventory of weapons, examining and making notes of each. How it felt, how it handled, damage numbers, etc. The final weapon she tried was the rapier. Instantly, she fell in love with the weapon. She loved everything about it, especially the speed that it granted her. She paid the shopkeeper most of the gold in her pouch, but she didn't care. Nothing like food or shelter was too expensive on _Floor 1_ , so only having to kill a monster a day could sustain her with money. She set out to the field outside of town, practicing with her newly acquired weapon.

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"Suguha, time for dinner!" Shouted her mom, towards the upper floor of the house. Suguha shuffled down the stairs, joining her mom at the table. "How was Kazuto today?" She asked.

"Same as usual. Still in the hospital bed, still not dead." Suguha replied. Suguha was able to visit Kazuto every day after school and practice, a luxury that her mom couldn't due to her work schedule falling outside of visiting hours for the hospital, so she only managed to see him on weekends.

"Well, is he being taken care of properly?"

"From what I can see, yes."

The hospitals across Japan treated the _Sword Art Online_ players like patients in a coma, due to the full dive causing a similar effect on the body. Suguha was almost tired of conversation about Kazuto. It had been the dominant topic of discussion for the past two weeks. She recognized the reality of the situation. Players had died already, Kazuto might, he would be in the hospital until when and if he woke up. Suguha tried not to let it get her down on a day to day basis. She still wondered why she already missed Kazuto so much.

"I'm impressed he's managed this long." Continued her mother.

"Well, he's pretty good at the video games he played. I'm sure the beginning level of this game isn't too hard for him."

"How do you explain all those who have died already?" Her mom asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Suguha, one thousand players have already died."

Suguha gasped. "I had no idea it was that many." She hadn't realized the number had gotten so high in only two weeks. Every time a log would be emailed to her, she only looked to make sure Kazuto's name wasn't on the list, and the progress so far. She hadn't notice the number of names throughout each log. "What could possibly be happening on the first level of this game? It's supposed to be the easiest." Suguha wondered.

"I at the very least know that. If the first level is so difficult, how are people expected to survive more levels?"

"I wouldn't say that, mother. I'm sure a lot of people who have died had issues with adjusting to the game or got surprised unexpectedly. I don't think Kazuto has had that issue."

"Fair enough point." Her mother concluded.

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 _16th November, 2022. Aincrad, Floor 1, The Town Of Beginnings_

Kirito's search continued. He had concluded his search in the eastern portion of _Floor 1_ , and returned to town. Kirito saw a player handing flyers out in the center of town. He picked one up, and realized what it was. A map that the various explorer squads compiled of places they've searched, and any possible hints or findings regarding the dungeon. Kirito saw the eastern part he had searched yesterday, labeled as "in progress". Strange he thought, he hadn't seen anyone anyone else during his little expedition yesterday. The only two portions of the map that hadn't been deemed "thoroughly searched" was the eastern edge and the south western edge. Both areas had harsh landscape contrasting from the normally grassy fields on _Floor 1_. The East had plenty of cliffs, as Kirito had experienced yesterday. The South West had a vast area of ancient ruins, arranged in an elaborate maze filled with creatures and ambushes. One of the notes on the map also answered a question Kirito had about the geography of the floors of _Aincrad_. The printed note read: "Warning!, When at the boundary of the floor, it just simply ends and you can fall to your death. Use caution when exploring near the boundaries." This little detail really reinforced "The Iron Castle In The Sky" mantra that _Aincrad_ was going for.

Each floor of _Aincrad_ gave the illusion of the sky. One couldn't see the bottom of the floor above, only a seemingly endless sky. A unifying trait among floors was the linked time. If it was nighttime on floor fifty, it was nighttime and on floor one. Weather however, was separate from floor to floor, and even regions on each floor. Kirito had already noticed the eastern edge of Floor One seemed cloudier than _The Town of Beginnings_. Having the unified time but varied and dynamic weather further contributed to the illusion of _Aincrad_ existing as a whole place in another world. Kirito decided he would expedition to the south west tomorrow, and maybe have some luck in finding the dungeon, or at the very least, talk to someone on the explorer team.

Kirito noticed a crowd forming around the bell tower at the center of town. He wandered over and matched everyone's gaze to the top of the tower. He saw a man, with a look of sorrow and panic on his face, standing on the edge. The various members of the crowd began shouting things up to the man.

"Don't jump!"

"Please come down!"

"You can survive!"

Kirito sprinted towards the entrance of the bell tower,and dashed up the stairs of the tower towards the top. He could hear the crowd shouts echoing through the tower. Just as Kirito arrived at the top, the man took his final step. Kirito reached out, but only grabbing air. A look of shock overcame Kirito's and the crowd's face. Kirito looked down at his feet. He was too late. He trudged back down the tower's stairs. A man met Kirito at the exit to the tower.

"Don't let it get you down," Began the man, who possessed a very deep voice that perfectly matched his stature. "He made his decision. There was nothing you or anyone could do. It was noble of you to try to stop him. I'm sure we're all sorry that happened."

"Thanks." Replied Kirito, looking up.

"By the way, what's your name? You seem kind of familiar."

"I'm Kirito. You may have seen me in the forest near _Horunka_." Kirito replied, pointing at the _Breastplate Of Silk_ the man had equipped. "How about yours?"

"Oh I'm Egiru." Egiru was a tall, bulky man that dwarfed others around him. "What have you been doing? I see you've already gotten what this floor has had to offer you." Egiru asked, noticing Kirito's breastplate and high level.

"Well, I've been exploring the outskirts of floor one, trying to look for the floor boss."

"Are you part of the exploration teams? What squad are you in?"

"Oh no, I'm solo."

"And here I thought I met a fellow explorer. I'm in Squad C on the exploration team. You should join up."

"Thanks, but I prefer to do things solo."

"Well, suit yourself. I'll see you around, Kirito."

"See you around." The two went separate ways.

 _17th November, 2022. Aincrad, Floor 1, Horunka Forest_

"Are you ready, Lis?" Asked Klein.

"Yeah, let's do it." Came the reply, as Klein's party descended into _Arana's_ cave. Lis was the only one not to have the breastplate from _Arana_. She was nervous, but at the same time had a sense of confidence about her capabilities, having found a more comfortable weapon than the sword. Her mace and buckler had served her well in practice, it was now time to put them to the test against _Arana_.

The group used the trap door shortcut accidentally discovered earlier to bypass the creatures of the cave and descend directly into _Arana's_ lair. The fight initiated like it had before, with _Arana_ emerging from the shadows. Klein drew his newly acquired katana, and began the charge. Everyone could feel how much they had improved since the first time fighting _Arana_. No longer were they shaky and scared, but rather confident and vigilant during combat. The fight was proceeding well. Klein, Haro, and Lis all fell into a modified "switch and pot" pattern where one person would draw the attention of _Arana_ and attack while the previous person in that role would retreat and drink health potions to recover their HP and catch their breath. The system was perfect for two people, but could be modified to accommodate about three. It was theorised by the more "militant" players that larger enemies could have their attention on multiple players at once, requiring coordinated groups of people to hold attention. This new fighting style was the "go to" for duo and trio combatants of _Aincrad,_ and although the strategy was kind of slow in terms of damage per second, it was certainly the safest. It had yet to be proven on anything harder than _Arana_. The _Arana_ fight was almost trivial with this method, as Klein had two others at his disposal, so the players resting would get even more time to recover.

 _Arana's_ health was in the yellow. She had managed glancing blows with her legs against the members of the party, but nothing significant. Everyone was careful not to get hit by her fangs, for risk of being poisoned. Lis still possessed the supposed antidote just in case of that., but there was only enough to cure one person in the vial. Haro struck with enough force to stagger _Arana_.

"Now's your chance Lis!" Shouted Haro. Lis leaped into the air and swung her mace with full force, smashing _Arana's_ head into the ground. She watched _Arana's_ health drop to zero, before the spider collapsed and burst into particles. A message popped up in front of Lis.

"Congratulations! Here is your reward:"

Lis was awarded with the _Breastplate Of Silk_ , and a sense of joy. Her nor any of her friends would ever have to fight that "stupid spider" ever again. This was her way of getting revenge for Soma.

"Everyone, check your health. Make sure it's not going down." Klein requested.

"I'm good here." Replied Lis.

"All good over here, boss." Replied Haro.

"Great job," continued Klein. "Let's head back to town."

"What do we do now?" Asked Lis.

"Well, I'm sure the exploration team could use some help finding the floor boss." Said Klein, and the party departed the cave.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: I really dislike having to put these in, but it appears to be the best way to communicate things about the story's creation to the readers. I will say thank you again, for those who have read this far. Anyway, the story is written all the way up to floor 4. Often times I take a break from publishing to focus on writing. This leads to the question "Well if you have that much written? Why not publish it?" Quite simply I'm being very meticulous about a lot of the fundamental details in the opening chapters, in order to not write myself into a corner. A lot of details are being considered in the long run. I have a very decent understanding of how the story will play out, and the arcs and everything I have planned for the characters. This will be a long story (after all, it is two years of people's lives. It won't be horribly tedious, I promise) and if there is enough demand for it, I would like to cover Fairy Dance and onward, but time will tell in that regard. I'm also really trying to make this different enough from Progressive as well. Thank you again.

Chapter 6: The Swordsman's Guide To _Aincrad_

 _25th November, 2022. Aincrad, Floor 1, The Town Of Beginnings_

Kirito wandered through the bazaar. Him and the exploration team had made zero progress in eight days. People' hopes were starting to get grim. If it had almost been a month since being trapped in _Aincrad,_ how long would they be stuck in the game? Kirito didn't let it get him down. He figured that after clearing the first floor, the rest wouldn't take as long. People needed time to adjust to life in _Aincrad,_ and the clearing teams would have an idea of the process after the first floor. In a way, the first floor would be the largest hurdle the players would have to clear. The bazaar was filled to the brim with booths, and not all of them were NPC stands, Kirito noticed. A significant portion of players had already resigned themselves to not fighting, choosing to become craftsmen or professions like waiters for their time in _Aincrad,_ not wanting to risk their life. But Kirito had a different mentality. In a way, he wanted to be the one to clear the game, to save everybody, but Kirito knew that was almost a delusion of grandeur. The only way _Aincrad_ would end, would be if an organized group of players worked together to clear it. Regardless, Kirito would be fighting to escape, he didn't fancy crafting things or serving people drinks.

Kirito noticed a small kid standing behind a booth, selling copies of a book. Kirito glanced down at the cover. _The Swordsman's Guide To Aincrad:_ The Knowledge Exhumed From A Month Of Beta Testing _Sword Art Online_. By: Argo. Kirito was almost perplexed. Only one thousand players had been chosen for the beta test of _Sword Art Online_. Kirito was one of them, but he didn't know of any others that made it to the release of the game. _Aincrad_ was very different than the beta test he and the others had experienced. The combat mechanics were more or less the same, but the layout of _Aincrad_ seemed different on a floor to floor basis. The beta testers only made it to _Floor 8_ and there was no telling if the bosses were the same or not on each floor from the beta test. One thing Kirito knew for certain was that the location of each floor's boss was different. The first place Kirito had checked on _Floor 1_ for the boss room was where it had been in the beta. And now he was sure that any other testers had checked their first as well if they were exploring. Kirito bought a copy of the guide, and proceeded to a bench to sit down and read it. Although he had played during the beta, he still wanted to read through the guide, and see what exactly was in it.

Kirito began flipping through the pages. The first section was nothing special. It had a basic layout map of _Floor 1_ and a general tutorial regarding game mechanics. The next section explained how to conduct life in _Aincrad_ , and had information like where to buy property on the first eight floors, the services inns provided, etcetera. The final section listed the first eight bosses, gave a general overview of the boss's abilities and weapons, as well as a general location of the boss's _Labyrinth_ , which was the formal term for the boss's dungeon. Obviously, the _Floor 1_ _Labyrinth_ was in a different location from the beta. The ending pages of the guide was a glossary, explaining terms like NPC (Non-Player Character) and DPS (Damage Per Second). Kirito wasn't surprised that he didn't learn anything new. He was at the forefront of the players during the beta period, and all the information in the guide was true to the best of the author's knowledge. Kirito began to wonder, had he seen anyone who was probably an ex beta tester? The general playerbase have had just under a month in _Aincrad_ , so people could be adept enough at combat to get by, but Kirito began thinking back. What players had he seen that looked like they had done this a million times before? People completely confident in combat like himself? He figured the leader of the explorer team was probably a beta tester, along with some of the players he saw guiding groups for killing _Arana_. Nonetheless, no one, newcomer or beta tester, had found the _Floor 1_ _Labyrinth_.

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 _26th November, 2022. Tokyo, Japan_

Suguha was sat at her desk in the evening, studying. Her phone dinged, indicating an email. She pulled it up to read. The email was from The Ministry Of Internal Affairs and was a progress report of _Aincrad_. She was disheartened at what she saw. They hadn't made any progress since the last report, still stuck on _Floor 1_. She scrolled through the list of those deceased since the last report. Thankfully, Kazuto's name wasn't on the list. Even though the hospital would most likely call her mother if Kazuto had passed, she still felt a sense of relief that his name wasn't among the dead. She looked at the number of total number of deaths, and gasped. _Number Of Deceased: 1,903_. Almost a fifth of _Sword Art Online_ players had already died in just under a month, and it seemed like they had made no progress towards clearing the game. How long would he be trapped in there, she began to wonder. Would they ever escape? Suguha looked up from her phone. She sensed a presence behind her, as if someone was in her room with her. She looked behind, but she was alone. Mom was still at work, and Kazuto was in the hospital. No one was behind her, it was impossible.

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 _27th November, 2022. Aincrad, Floor 1, The Town Of Beginnings_

Kirito awoke from a dream about him and Suguha. He had recalled the time him and Suguha were at Kendo practice together when they were younger in the dream. He smiled, remembering that was a stark contrast from their relationship today, as in recent years, they had drifted further from each other. Their relationship could be described as "tolerant" now days. Kirito didn't know about Suguha visiting him every day regardless of this fact. Kirito equipped his gear and set out for another day of exploration.

Klein and his party scoured the eastern cliffs of _Floor 1_. They had checked the exploration maps, and knew full well that it had already been checked, but Klein just had a feeling it was somewhere in the cliffs. As there was no obvious structure protruding from the cliffs, he reasoned that the labyrinth could be hidden and contained inside the rock face, invisible to the outside world. The party began to descend further down the cliff side, Lis stopped on a ledge to rest, while Haro and Klein continued their descent. Lis looked to her side, and noticed a jagged, pearlescent black rock just barely sticking out of the side of the cliff. She walked over to it and began to wiggle it, trying to free it and take it with her. She was taken back by the force she used to pry the rock when it finally got free. After she recovered, the rock face area around the rock she had pulled began to recede into the cliff side, revealing a door.

"Guys, I think I found something!" Lis shouted to Haro and Klein. The two climbed their way over to her ledge. The door that was revealed was constructed of a different, smoother stone than the rest of the cliffs. The group could just barely make out etchings of a giant bipedal creature engraved onto the door. Klein pushed the door open. Without nearly any application of force, the door opened. A hallway made of granite opened up to them, as torch sconces began to light one by one illuminating the path with their blue flame.

"I'm guessing this is the Labyrinth." Haro said.

"I'm guessing you're right." Came Klein's reply.

"What do we do, now? Should we go in?" Lis asked.

"No, we should come back here with a raiding party. We also need to inform Diavel. Here I'll mark it on our map so we know where to come back to exactly, and can share the location information with others. We need to get back to town." Klein ordered, and the group climbed out of the cliffs, crossing the plain back towards _The Town Of Beginnings_.

 _30th November, 2022. Aincrad, Floor 1, The Town Of Beginnings_

Kirito passed through the town square. He noticed a piece of yellow paper hanging off of the base of the clock tower, right next to the tiny memorial site that also adorned the tower. If a perished player's friends were so inclined, they would hang up drawings of the deceased and post them on the structure of the clock tower. There were no photographs in _Aincrad_. Only about two hundred or so drawings adorned the tower, a fraction of those who had perished. Kirito began to read the yellow paper on the tower.

"MEETING: _10:00 am_ _December 3rd, Tolbana Ampitheatre, Town Of Beginnings._ " **All Fighters Welcome And Encouraged To Attend!** " Decreed the paper.

"What could it be?" Kirito wondered. "A gladiator match? Some sort of dueling event?" Either of those options made sense given its location. He planned on checking it out. After all, what else would he be doing besides endlessly searching for the Labyrinth?

"Well well, look who it is." Came a deep voice from behind Kirito. He turned back and saw Egiru behind him.

"Hey, how's it going?"

"Good, good. You know what that poster is about?"

"No, do you?"

"Possibly. Diavel had me put them up across town, but he wouldn't say why. It's something hush hush. I only have a hunch, but it could be wrong."

"Who is Diavel? I've heard that name before." Asked Kirito

"Diavel is the leader of the exploration team. Well, kind of leader. He doesn't bark orders or anything to the different squads, he was, however, the one to organize things to form the exploration team as it exists today."

"So he wants fighters at a meeting. Yeah, I think I know what it's about now."

"I'm sure you figured it out. I'll be sure to see you there. Later Kirito." And Egiru walked towards the market.

After knowing Diavel's role, Kirito figured out what the meeting was for. "The exploration team must have found the Labyrinth, and he wants a raiding party to conquer it." Kirito thought. "But how many people will actually show up?" Kirito began to wonder. The creatures in the Labyrinth leading up to the boss were harder than any encountered on the floor thus far, let alone the boss. At least, that's how it was in the beta test. The Labyrinths were structured almost as if they were miniature _Aincrads_. Twenty levels of the Labyrinth each containing harder and harder creatures to fight on the way to the boss room. Once all of the floors in the Labyrinth had been cleared, the doors to the boss room would open. Once the boss had been killed, the next floor of _Aincrad_ would open.

"The fight will be tough." Kirito thought. During the beta, it took a group of about sixty people including himself to kill the first floor's boss, and they didn't get it on the first try either. The boss wiped out the entire group three times before on the fourth attempt, the group was able to kill it. During the beta, the players would simply respawn and try again. But this wasn't the beta. _Aincrad_ had become reality, and the first floor's boss had the potential to inflict heavy casualties if the raiding party wasn't careful. "Do I really want to be a part of this?" Kirito asked himself. He could stay back in town, as the party attempted the boss. He would be safe from death, let other people risk their lives. "No, I must fight. I must fight to escape this place. I must fight for my family. I will fight until the end of this place is brought about by my sword." Kirito concluded. He would be present for the meeting, and present for the raid.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Hesitation

 _3rd December, 2022. Aincrad, Floor 1, Tolabana Ampitheatre, The Town Of Beginnings_

"Hello, and welcome everyone in attendance!" Shouted Diavel towards the seats of the theatre. Diavel had two men by his side. Kirito recognised Egiru, but not the other one. This one had light brown spiked hair, and a barely visible soul patch on his lower lip. Kirito sat in the back of the crowd, a few rows separating him from the bulk of the people in attendance. He noticed how the crowd was comprised. Many people in attendance sat with their friends, with only a few spaces in between the cliques of people. He, however, sat alone. He looked over to the other side of the seats and saw a figure with a red hood, also sitting alone. Kirito didn't pay the figure much mind. Kirito took one last look at the crowd as they grew quiet, and before Diavel continued. Kirito couldn't find Klein or his friends.

"I've gathered you all here today to make an announcement. The exploration team has found _Floor 1's_ Labyrinth. That's why you're here, fighters of _Aincrad_. We must form a raiding party to clear the labyrinth, and defeat the boss!" A mild murmur could be heard from the crowd. "We will form into seven groups of six people each based on roles each of you fulfill in combat. Groups A and B will be the heavy tank parties. Groups C, D, and E will be the heavy assault parties. Most of the DPS will be coming from these three groups. Groups F and G will be the long range support, using weapons like bows. To combat the boss, I'm sure you're all familiar with the switch method. We will, however, modify the switch theory of combat, as it's primarily suited for two people realistically. The tank groups will be the ones that will keep the boss's attention, and try and keep the boss's attention off of the other teams. The tank groups will switch off with each other so that the other can heal up. The heavy damage group's role is just to simply apply as much damage as possible on the boss. Try to use your attacks to draw the boss's attention towards the tank groups, Long range supports, just stay back as much as possible."

 _Sword Art: Online_ didn't have traditional classes like other MMOs in the past had. Combat abilities could be used and were made available based on how long a player had used a particular weapon, with abilities sometimes requiring a general level to be reached before use as well. Anyone could use any weapon at any time, but someone who picked up a mace that day couldn't use as many mace based combat abilities as someone who had been using a mace for a month, as they would have to level up their skill with the weapon. However, if the new wielder was proficient enough in general combat, they may still be able to beat the veteran wielder. General levels gained only increased a player's health, while the level of a weapon skill would also increase more complimentary stats of the user to better match the weapon's style. For example, a high level rapier wielder would have a higher agility stat than a high level mace wielder, allowing the user of the rapier to move faster with the game's assistance, while the mace wielder would see an increase in their strength stat, allowing for harder hitting strikes. This system allowed for players to find and stick with the combat style and weapon they preferred the most. Switching weapon use would cause the previous weapon skill to decay and deplete as the new weapon being used would increase in skill level value. There was also the distinct, non existence of magic skills. _Aincrad_ was grounded in that sense.

"Now, Egiru will inform you about the details of the boss." Concluded Diavel.

"Right." Began Egiru. "I'm sure most of you by this point have read _The Swordsman's Guide To Aincrad._ , but I'll reiterate anyway. The boss for the floor is _Illfang, the Kobold Lord_. Based off the information in this book, he is a massive kobold who wields an axe and shield during his first phase, and will also call other, rugeular kobolds to help him during the fight. After he reaches his second and final phase, which we estimate will be when he gets down to his last health bar, he will then throw his axe and shield and begin attacks with a talwar. This phase will lend the boss high mobility, and wide area damage, so we must be careful. The boss fight i relatively basic in terms of strategy, however he will hit harder and wider than any other creature encountered on the floor thus far. The creatures leading up to the boss room will be a semi decent numbers check. If we struggle sustaining damage from those creatures, we will have no chance against _Illfang_." Ended Egiru.

Diavel walked back up to center stage. "This concludes our little meeting. We will meet back here tomorrow at ten in the morning. We will then journey to the labyrinth, and begin the process of clearing. Please go meet with the groups that best fit your combat style."

The crowd split into groups quickly. Before Kirito could get into a group, he already counted the six people in each of the groups. He was left out. He looked to the other side of the seating. The hooded figure was still there, and hadn't moved. He walked over to the figure.

"Hello, I'm Kirito. It looks like we're in a group on our own."

"It would appear so." Replied a female voice. Kirito was slightly taken back that the figure was a girl. Her clothes concealed her shape well, the only giveaway was the skirt and leggings she was wearing, that Kirito now noticed, and nothing could be seen under her hood. But in the long run, he didn't care, as long as she could fight.

Eventually, everyone took their leave from _Tolbana_. Kirito left for the outskirts of town to further train and prepare himself for the day to come. He focused on getting faster and faster with his strikes and abilities. He figured the windows to attack may be short, and he would have to get as much damage in as possible during the opportunities. "Why weren't item drops covered in the meeting? Did Diavel have knowledge about boss items that changed in the full release of the game?" Kirito began to wonder. "Surely, Diavel knew how drops worked from bosses. He was probably a beta tester as well." In the beta test, item drops from bosses worked the same as any creature in _Aincrad_. Whoever had scored the last hit on the boss would get the item dropped from it. Kirito began to suspect some trickery. "I'm sure Diavel will arrange things so he gets the last hit in on _Illfang_." Kirito felt conflicted about this thought. It was seemingly harmless enough, after all, Kirito wasn't necessarily in the fight for the gear, he was in the fight to escape. "But if Diavel arranges things so he can get the last hit, will it endanger the rest of the people fighting?" Kirito concluded with a last strike of his sword on the training dummy. He sheathed his sword, and returned to town as dusk began.

"I...just. I don't...feel great about doing the raid tomorrow." Stammered Lis. She had been acting weird all day, before Klein finally asked what was going on. On account of sleeping in, Klein and his group had missed the organizational meeting. Haro had to find Diavel later in the day and get a brief summary, which he relayed to everyone. The group was now sitting in Klein's room in the inn.

"Lis, it'll be alright. I'm sure Diavel knows what he's doing. After all, you were the one to technically find the labyrinth, on't you want to be there for the clearing of it? And besides, I'm sure Kirito will be there. I don't think he'd let anything bad happen to any of us." Klein tried to comfort Lis.

"How can you be so sure of that?" Began Haro. "I don't know the number of interactions you've had with him, but Lis and I have only had less than a handful. Why are you so trusting? There's only so much one person can do."

"I.. I just don't know man. Back on the first day, when everyone was getting their feet wet in _Aincrad_ , I saw him in the field killing boars, and he just came off as adept and knowledgeable about the the game, even from afar. I eventually went up to him and asked him to help me out with fighting. He was kind enough that he lent me his help until we all got teleported, and well, you know the story from there. I offered Kirito to come with me to find you guys, but Kirito wanted to go solo."

"That's kind of the point, Klein." Replied Haro. "He's a solo player. He doesn't have any obligations to help anyone else. I'd be surprised if even showed up. Fighting in a raid party doesn't seem like the kind of thing a solo player would do. This fight will be bigger than any you or him have ever faced. He could always get overwhelmed. And besides, we shouldn't rely on the charity of some teenager to let us get through a life or death situation." Concluded Haro, with almost a hint of malice in his tone.

"Some teenager?" Klein began to raise his voice. "The point is his skill is scary. I mean, we've gotten good, but from when I've seen him fight, it just seems like he's on a whole other level. And what does his age matter? Look at Lis, she's gotten to handle herself well, and she's just 'some teenager' also. Age is almost irrelevant by this point. What matters, is he can fight."

"Look Klein, it seems like you're so enthralled by Kirito. Maybe you should convince him to group with you. Maybe he can actually teach you a thing or two."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Take that as you will."

"I'm not saying to rely solely on Kirito. Killing the boss will have to be a group effort, it's the only way. I just think he would watch out for us. He's already done it once before." Klein said.

"That entire situation was a fluke. I'm sure, had he hadn't shown up, we could have finished the fight. He just got to drop in because he happened to be at the right place at the right time, and he looked like a hero. He's not that great, he wasn't even able to prevent Soma from dying."

"You leave Soma out of this." Klein said in a low angry voice. "His death wasn't Kirito's or any of our faults. No one knew at the time just getting grazed by her fang would poison you." His voice rising in volume.

"Was it that hard to figure out? Afterall she is a venomous spider."

"If it was so obvious, then why didn't you say it at the time? I bet you had that whole fight figured out. I'm sure you knew how to handle the fight from the get go. I'm sure you could have easily beat _Arana_ by your lonesome. And if it wasn't for Kirito, you would be the hero. That's not what happened though. I remember you getting knocked on your ass, and barely getting a strike in."

"Will you two stop it!" Lis shouted, sitting up, tears welling in her eyes. "Regardless of Kirito being there, I just don't want to go, ok? You two can, but I want to stay here."

"Lis, are you sure? I'm positive you'll be fine." Assured Klein.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Klein." Remarked Haro.

"It's not that." Began Lis. " I just don't want to get in the way of anybody. I use a shield and mace, I'm sure they'll have me pegged for a tank, but that's not me. I couldn't stand to be up front. If you two want to go, then go. I'll just stay here for the day until you guys get back."

"You can't hide from your problems, Lis." Haro said, as Lis shot up looking at him.

"What the hell man!?" Rebutted Klein.

"Maybe I'll see you tomorrow, maybe I won't." Grumbled Haro, before retreating back to his room for the night. Lis and Klein were left in Klein's room.

"Lis, I-"

"Don't worry about it. Go tomorrow. Fight if you want to. Just please, come back alive, even if Kirito has to save you." Lis smiled a little bit, before getting up. "Oh, and please make sure Haro comes back also. This argument isn't worth his or your lives."

"You got it." Klein said, as Lis left the room. Klein fell to his bed, and sighed.

 _3rd December, 2022. Aincrad, Floor 1,Town Square, The Town Of Beginnings_

Kirito bought a meal from the market for dinner. He proceeded to the bench in the town square he usually sat at for lunch. As the bench came into view, he saw someone covered by a cowl already sitting there. As he drew closer, he recognised the person. It was her.

"Hey, how's it going?" Kirito asked, sitting down next to her.

"It's alright."

"You nervous at all for the raid tomorrow?"

"Only a little bit."

Kirito noticed she was barely pecking at her roll of bread.

"Is your food ok?"

"It's kind of tasteless."

"Oh, well here." Kirito said, reaching into his inventory to bring out butter. "Try this."

The girl took the butter and spread it on her bread. She took a tiny bite at first before quickly devouring the rest of the roll. Kirito grinned.

"Pretty good, right? It' a little trick to make things taste better. Adding toppings makes the food edible and tasty enough."

"Thanks."

Kirito kept sharing the various toppings and spices for their meal. They had happened to buy the same packaged meal. The girl looked like she had eaten her first real meal in a month. The rice was bearable with soy sauce, and the chicken delightful with teriyaki. The two finished their meal, and the girl stood up.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Kirito."

Kirito watched her walk towards the sunset. The sky a mix of red, orange and purple, with the red matching her cowl. Before she got too far, Kirito looked up to view her name. _Asuna_.

Kirito returned to his long term room at the inn. He unequipped his gear before crashing into the bed. _Sword Art: Online_ had a unique system for item management. Players could either choose to use the inventory system, which would store various objects until the player needed them again, in which case they would reappear out of thin air and be equipped. Some players, like Kirito, opted to use this system. Other players chose to ignore this system for a lot of objects, leaving their gear out in the world and would manually put it back on when needed again. To each their own.

"Mom, Sugu, don't worry. Tomorrow the real fight starts. Tomorrow begins the siege of the _Iron Castle_. Tomorrow begins the journey home."

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"Are you sure that thing is safe?" Asked Suguha to Kazuto. Kazuto had just came home with the _NerveGear_ , and she was sitting in his room out of curiosity, and watching him set it up.

"Of course it's safe. I understand most if not all the science behind it. It's really cool. It uses signals to put your physical body to sleep as it uses another set of signals to sort of inject data into your brain. The data that it injects is what you see, and when you want to move in the world it's projecting, the helmet intercepts the signals that your brain sends and translates them in the world it's displaying."

"I don't know, sounds pretty weird."

"I'm sorry, I probably didn't explain it the best right there. I think you'll just have to try it for yourself. Let me try it first."

Kirito lied down on his bed. Instantly he was transported to the maze world that the _NerveGear_ came with. The experience felt incredible to Kirito. He would move, and his avatar would move. This piece of technology began to blur the lines between the real and virtual world. Kirito logged out and awoke to Suguha looking at him.

"Did you do anything?" She asked?

"Yeah, I was running around the maze."

"Oh, well you were completely motionless on the bed. So I thought maybe you were just loading in the whole time."

"No, the helmet prevents actions being performed in game from being performed in the real world. It may have looked like I was motionless, but I was actually running."

"Strange. Can you hear anything in there?"

"No, the _NerveGear_ blocks all sensory perception, as it intercepts it for use in the virtual world."

"Still, so strange. Well you have fun." Suguha got up to leave the room.

"Wait, you don't want to try it?"

"Oh, no thank you."

"Suit yourself."

Suguha awoke, checking the time: _11:47 pm_.

"It was just a dream." She thought, before going back to sleep.

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	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Testers

 _4th December, 2022. Aincrad, Floor 1, Illfang's Labyrinth_

The raiding party stood at the 20th level of the labyrinth. They had reached a polished glass door, with a depiction of a massive creature stained onto it. Kirito looked around. Everyone's level including his had reached 11, due to the monsters in the Labyrinth yielding experience to the clearers. The monsters in the labyrinth were tougher than the average creature on Floor One, so it only made sense.

"This must be it." Said Diavel, standing at the forefront of the group. Diavel was the raid's leader as well as being in charge of Group C, the first heavy assault group. "Everyone, rest up, and make your final preparations. Every group, you know what to do. You two-" Diavel began, pointing at Kirito and Asuna, "support Group E anyway you can". Group E was led by Kibaou, one of the men who stood with Diavel at the meeting the day prior.

"Got it." Asuna and Kirito both replied.

Diavel pushed open the door. Blue torch sconces began to light the path ahead. A massive room of glimmering crystal and polished marble was revealed to the raiding party. At the end, they saw it. _Illfang: The Kobold Lord,_ sitting upon his throne. A massive beast with red fur and grey markings covering his arms and chest. The party walked midway across the room. _Illfang_ finally stood up, drawing his axe and shield, his war howl echoed throughout the labyrinth. _Illfang's_ HP bars generated. Four bars daunted the raiding party. Some members of the group were taken back with terror, but Kirito remained unphased. He had seen this before. Unwavering, Diavel led the charge behind the two tanking groups.

Flurries of swords and flashes of lights could be seen all across the room. _Illfang's_ strikes were massive. One strike was able to damage almost everyone standing in range, or failing to dodge, and his shield was capable of deflecting most of the oncoming damage. Little by little, _Illfang's_ HP was starting to go down. The first bar had been depleted after what seemed like an eternity to Kirito.. The walls of the room opened up, and kobolds emerged from the shadows.

"Groups B and E, take care of those guys!" Diavel commanded. Kirito and Asuna shifted their focus as well. The spawned kobolds were no match for the tank and assault groups, espcially with Egiru leading the tanks of Group B. After dispatching the kobolds, Kirito turned his attention back to _Illfang_ , who had been brought a distance away from them. He witnessed _Illfang_ strike down with his axe, only to be parried by Diavel, and knocked back. Diavel stood with a grin on his face after landing the parry, before leaping into a strike. The raid party had settled into a good rhythm of switching off against _Illfang_. All in all, the fight was going well. Running back towards the boss, Kirito observed _Illfang's_ attacks. They were faster than before.

Kirito focused on deflecting _Illfang's_ attacks off of his group a much as possible. He had lost track of Asuna in the heat of the battle. After a while of fighting, Kibaou ordered a switch. Group E retreated to rest. Kirito saw a katana wielding swordsman lead the next charge. He recognized the red suit of armor and flowing headband. It was Klein. Kirito watched as Klein aggressively struck, staggering _Illfang_ with every blow. Kirito was impressed, Klein had come a long way from barely fighting a boar on the first day. But how had he not noticed Klein in the party? Kirito looked around for Lis or Haro, but couldn't find them. Klein's offensive was relentless, allowing his group to deal as much damage as possible. At the end of his attack, Klein and his group had managed to deplete _Illfang's_ second health bar. They were halfway there. More kobolds spawned from the shadows, and Groups E and B were ordered to deal with them again. Egiru led the assault once more, his two handed axe making large swings, and warded off multiple kobolds with each blow. Kirito focused on one target at a time, as did Asuna, he noticed. After dispatching his first target, Kirito took a moment to observe Asuna. He was impressed at her speed with the rapier, she appeared to be almost as fast as he was. The spawned Kobolds had been killed, and the groups rested before rejoining the primary battle against _Illfang_. As they began to run back over, Diavel called for group C to retreat, and for Groups D, F, and G to begin an assault. Groups F and G moved from the back line to a more forward position in order to better support the assault Group D. With the combined forces of the three groups, _Illfang's_ third health bar had been depleted. As the beast was knocked backwards, he threw his shield and ax to the side, and drew his final weapon before letting out a scream more terrifying than the first.

"This is it!" Shouted Diavel. "Groups B and E, you know what to do!" Kirito was once more dispatching the additional Kobolds. Group B was doing their bests to keep the kobolds off of the support groups. As one would get through the defensive live, Kirito would see Asuna leap to try and eliminate the kobolds before they could do damage to the other groups. Kirito focused on the front of the fight, landing strikes on the staggered kobolds, so generously stunned by Egiru.

"You certainly know how to handle yourself!" Shouted Egiru over the sound of clashing metal.

"Same with you!" Kirito replied back.

After the additional kobolds had been defeated, Kirito looked over towards _Illfang_. His last health bar was in the yellow. Just then he looked up to see Diavel lead a charge.

"Group C! Let's finish this!" Diavel commanded, rushing towards _Illfang_.

"Wait stop!" Kirito began sprinting towards _Illfang_ , trying to get Diavel's attention, but it was too late. _Illfang_ unleashed a circular attack with his Nodachi. Groups C and A were knocked backwards onto the ground, and had a stun effect applied to them, briefly unable to move.

"He has a Nodachi, not a Talwar!" Shouted Kirito, sprinting towards Diavel. He had to make it, Kirito had to deflect _Illfang's_ next blow, if it landed, Diavel's HP would drop to zero.

"What!?" Asked Diavel, looking back towards _Illfang._ Kirito was right. _Illfang_ hadn't been wielding a Talwar during the final phase like they had planned. It was a Nodachi, which would allow the use of Katana skills, explaining his spin attack. Before Kirito could make it to Diavel, _Illfang_ charged an attack. Targeting Diavel, _Illfang_ knocked him up into the air, and landed four successive strikes and a downwards push. Diavel was knocked away and landed right in front of Kirito. Kirito kneeled over him, Diavel's HP had dropped to zero, these next breaths would be Diavel's last.

"You, knew too, didn't you?" Diavel gently asked. "You, are one of us, aren't you?" Diavel's body burst into the polygonal ash, and floated away, leaving Kirito looking at the floor. Kirito's hunch was confirmed. Diavel had been a beta tester also, so he knew what to expect during the fight. No one expected the Nadachi, however. Kirito understood now. It was his responsibility, as a former tester, to beat _Illfang_ , and make sure these people got out alive, at least from this fight. Afterall, he had beat _Illfang_ once before.

Kirito looked back over at _Illfang_. Group A had almost been wiped out, they needed to switch.

"Everyone! Take ten steps away from the boss!" Kirito barked. He didn't back away. It was just him and the boss, and he would do it alone if it meant everyone got out safely. Asuna approached him.

"You're not doing this alone."

"Alright then!"

Kirito led the two person charge. While sprinting towards the boss, Asuna was forced to dodge an attack. It mostly missed, but managed to rip off Asuna's hood. Kirito was briefly stunned at the beautiful, orangish brown hair now flowing with her movements. Kirito lunged forward ahead of Aunsa, deflecting _Illfang's_ attacks as much as possible to allow Asuna to get as much damage in as she could. The two held this pattern for as long as possible, _Illfang's_ health was in the red now. Kirito noticed _Illfang_ wind up a massive attack, he wouldn't be able to deflect this one.

"Get back, Asuna!" Kirito barked. She complied just in time for Kirito to take the brunt of the strike. Kirito was sent flying, landing and tumbling into Asuna. The two tried to get up, but looked up to see _Illfang_ wind up for another attack towards them. Before the strike came down, it was deflected by Egiru. He stood in front of Kirito and Asuna, and turned to them.

"You two rest up." Egiru said, as he led the rest of the party in a charge. They encircled _Illfang_ , and began attacking. After a brief time, _Illfang_ began to charge another sweeping attack. The party couldn't survive another one. Kirito noticed the wind up, and mustered his remaining strength. He leapt towards _Illfang_ , landing a stunning blow just in time. Kirito capitalized on the stun, landing a multitude of hard hitting strikes. In one final vertical blow, Kirito saw _Illfang_ 's HP drop to zero. The beast tried for one more strike, but collapsed. His body burst into to the signature polygonal ash. _Illfang_ was slain. Kirito stood hunched over, catching his breath. Text appeared over _Illfang's_ throne.

" **Congratulation!"**

Just then, everyone saw their notification menu open up.

"New Item Acquired: _Stats Crystal"_

Everyone in the party cheered. Kirito, however, received a different notification.

"Bonus Item: _Coat of Midnight"_

Kirito got up, and turned to face everyone. He was met with a glare from Kibaou, who had fallen to his knees.

"You knew, didn't you?" Growled Kibaou. Asuna and Egiru heard this and looked over towards Kirito with puzzled looks. "You knew about the boss, and the last hit bonus. And you didn't tell us!" Kibaou rose into a shout. The entire party's attention was on him and Kirito now. "You were a beta tester, weren't you? You fought the boss before. You knew his abilities, but didn't tell us. Maybe if you had, Diavel would have survived

Kirito was speechless and looked down. He didn't know how to respond, jumping between anger and reason. He had fought the boss before, yes. But in the beta _Illfang_ had a Talwar. He and Diavel would have both been expecting the Talwar based move set. They were both stunned by the Nodachi.

"You even made sure you got the last hit for the bonus item." Continued Kibaou.

"Now now, let's all calm do-" Egiru attempted to say.

"Yeah, that's right." Began Kirito, in a cold voice. "I used to be a beta tester, and you know what? So did Diavel." A look of shock overcame Kibaou. "I also knew about the last hit bonus. But don't group me in with those beta tester noobs. Back in the beta, I made it to floors higher than anyone else. On higher floors, _Illfang_ is nothing compared to what you'll face there." Kirito turned away and began to walk towards the entrance of _Floor 2,_ equipping the _Coat of_ _Midnight_. Materializing out of air, the black and blue coat was draped over Kirito.

"Then...Then that makes you worse than a tester. That make you a cheater! A beater!" Shouted Kibaou.

"Fine, then so be it." Came the dark reply.

"Hey, Kirito?" Began Asuna. Kirito turned back slightly to glance at Asuna. "How did you know my name?" She asked in a puzzling tone.

"I looked at it yesterday. If you look just above someone's head, their name will appear." Kirito replied, pointing to where Asuna should look. Asuna tried this with Kirito, and sure enough, his name appeared.

"Oh, I never noticed." Asuna giggled.

Kirito turned, and entered _Floor 2_.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: New World

 _4th December, 2022. Aincrad. Floor 1, The Town Of Beginnings_

A young girl, no more than twelve, sat on a bench in the town square. She could see in the distance the colossal pillar that connected _Floor 1_ and _Floor 2_. The pillar was a detail of _Aincrad_ that could be seen extending into the sky of each floor, and was thought to be the way that each floor structurally connected to each other. When searching for the Labyrinth of _Floor 1,_ the exploration teams initially checked the area around the pillar, logically assuming that was the way to the next floor. As the labyrinth was in fact not there, it was assumed that perhaps the labyrinth would eventually lead to the massive pillar, when the entrance to _Floor 2_ would be opened. This aspect of _Aincrad_ was also changed from the beta. After all, the developers didn't want to give too much away.

The girl began to play with the two pigtails in her hair, twirling strands around her finger. She looked up, and suddenly the pillar began to glow in prismatic colors. After the initial burst, it settled back into its dark color, but appeared to be restored. The iron looked brand new now, even from a distance. The girl couldn't help but stare in awe..

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Suguha sat at her desk, her nose buried in her history textbook. Her phone next to her lit up, and made its iconic *ding* sound signaling she had a new message. Instantly she was torn from her book.

"A new email."

She unlocked her phone, and looked at what was sent to her.

 _Aincrad Incident Report December 4th, 2022._ Read the subject line.

She began scrolling through the info, as per usual, skipping the initial part of the message, and going straight to the names of the newly deceased. Kazuto wasn't on the list. She began to scroll up, a feint hope that maybe the players had progressed past the first level of _Aincrad_. The change caught her eye.

 _Floors Cleared:_ _ **1**_

"Yes!" she shouted to her room, and to the empty house. She began several sobs of joy. Almost exactly one month after players had entered _Aincrad_ , the first floor had been cleared.

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Asuna watched as Kirito disappeared into the darkness that was through the door at the end of _Illfang's_ throne room. She walked over to examine the throne chair. She noticed something peculiar. On the center of the backrest, an etching of a bird began glowing a very subtle and warm red. She ran her fingers across it, and felt the divet that the etched bird made. Even though the bird was glowing, it was as cool to the touch as the rest of the throne.

* * *

Kirito wandered through the mist. All of a sudden the air seemed to ripple around opened his eyes and was greeted by the infamous crimson sunset of _Aincrad_. He was standing outside of a new town. A beautiful stone archway loomed in front of him. In the closing light of the day, he could just barely make out the word engraved on the archway; _Urbus_. Kirito examined his surroundings further. The town appeared to be surrounded by mountains, the closest ones being uniform in height, implying to Kirito that the town was settled in the center of a crater. Beyond the boundaries, he could see peaks of other mountains standing even taller in the distance. Based off this, as well as promotional art for _Aincrad_ he had seen in the real world, Kirito concluded the second floor of _Aincrad_ was slightly smaller in diameter than the first. Further beyond the town, Kirito could see the massive obelisk reaching into the sky. The "connection" between all of the floors. Kirito opened up his menu, and opened the map, anticipating it to be blank.

"What?" Kirito gasped.

The map was entirely filled out. The light blue background of the map was already outlined and dotted with yellow markers of all the settlements, for _Floor 2_ , with their accompanying filled out, were points of interest, as well as the most peculiar thing to Kirito, the Labyrinth. The map was showing him plain as day where the Labyrinth for _Floor 2_ was. He tapped on the yellow marker with his finger to pull up the sub map of the Labyrinth, but was greeted with an all too familiar sight. The map was blank.

"Guess some things are still meant to be discovered." Kirito thought to himself.

Kirito closed his map and menu, and wandered into town. He sought out an inn to rest for the night.

* * *

A horde of people from _The Town of Beginnings_ began to flock towards the town square. An oval shaped structure rose from the ground. The pig-tailed girl ran towards the structure, placing her hand on the wall of the structure. Suddenly it burst to life, and a greenish blue vortex appeared within the confines of the oval structure. Hesitantly, she jumped through, and found herself in _Urbus'_ town square

"Strange." She thought.

Immediately she leapt back through, and found herself back in _The Town Of Beginnings_. She wandered with the crowd back into _Urbus_.

* * *

"Miss Asuna, was it?" Egiru asked, as he approached Asuna, who was beginning to walk towards the same entrance to _Floor 2_ Kirito took. She looked back and noticed the scene around her. A lot of people were on their knees, resting. Kibaou was still staring at the ground with his head low. She and this man approaching her were the only people on her feet in the throne room.

"Yes? Is something wrong?" Asuna replied.

"Oh no such thing. I just wanted to say you handled yourself incredibly well. Most female players wouldn't have stood in such a dangerous fight like that and…"

"HEY! What did you just say?" shouted a tiny hooded figure from across the room. The figure sprinted towards Asuna and Egiru, and withdrew her hood.

"Oh Argo, you know what I mean." Replied Egiru, seemingly shrugging her off.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. One thousand Cor and I'll tell you?" Playfully replied Argo.

Egiru turned back to Asuna "Anyway, what I was going to ask, is if you had any previous experience?"

"Previous…..experience?" Replied Asuna with a puzzled look.

"Yeah you know, like, maybe a few things seemed really familiar when you got stuck in _Aincrad_?"

"Oh my god, could you be ANY more ambiguous?" Snapped Argo. "Asuna right? He is asking if you played the _SAO_ beta. If you are a beta tester that got stuck in here also."

"Will you keep your voice down?" Interrupted Egiru. "Kibaou looks like he's about ready to kill anyone who says they are."

"Heh, let him try." Jested Argo.

"Ummm, no I'm, not." Finally answered Asuna.

"Oh ok. Just curious. You certainly fight like you are one." Complemented Egiru.

"Oh, ahha, thanks." Nervously chuckled Asuna. Who were these people? They both seemed friendly enough, and Kirito seemed to know Egiru, with the way they had been speaking with each other during the fight. Still, given people's recent attitudes towards beta testers, she kept her guard up. "Is it true, about _him?_ Was he really a beta tester? Did he actually withhold information?"

"I never formally met him during the beta." Replied Egiru. "And as far as I know, he didn't withhold any information he knew during the fight. He called out the weapon change as soon as he realized it, He did the best he could."

"I suppose so." Agreed Asuna. "What about what he said before he left? Did he really make it farther in the beta? Is he really as skilled as he thinks he is? Or at least, says he is?"

"Possibly." Began Argo. "During the beta, there was a player who gained quite a reputation for himself. _The Black Swordsman_. This player always wore black gear,fought with a single one handed sword, and was always hooded, even during boss fights. During the beta, we got to _Floor 8_. He was always in the party fighting the boss. He mostly kept to himself, both socially and during combat, but you could certainly see his actions having an affect during a battle. _The Black Swordsman_ always somehow managed to get his hands on the best gear, so he was either insanely lucky with monster drops or just grinded his way to be able to afford upgrades. More on his skill level, I remember fighting the fifth floor boss, he was of course in the raid party. We had wiped 3 times previously, but during the beta, of course that wasn't a big deal. It wasn't a death game back then. Anyway, we had all wiped on the fourth attempt, and we were about to call it a night and go back the next day to try again. But there _he_ stood. _He_ was the last alive, and was facing down the boss who was still at half health. He refused to give up, and the fiercest battle I had ever seen ensued. When it was all said and done, the boss fell, and _he_ was left with 1 HP. Egiru can attest to this as well."

"I sure can." Continued Egiru. "I don't know for sure, but Kirito's and _his_ fighting style are very similar, and with the coat that dropped from the first boss, he certainly looks the part now. Back in the beta test, _he_ was certainly the point of a lot of jealousy. A lot of players, including myself, wanted his skill. Or gear. Hell, probably both. One thing is for sure, regardless if Kirito is in fact _him_ , he has a target on his back after today. Between beta testers who are beginning to assume his legendary identity and people who view them as "beaters", Kirito should be watching his back more closely."

"You say this as if he needs a bodyguard or something." Kidded Argo.

"Now, I wouldn't go that far, just that he should watch his back. As neutral as Kirito seems to play himself off as, he may not be suspecting any ill will from anyone." Rebutted Egiru.

"As you two are both beta testers," Begun Asuna, "Do you happen to know how many testers are around?"

"Well, let's see here." Replied Argo, thinking up to the ceiling. "There were about a thousand beta testers, I look around the room right now, and from the faces I recognize, which assumes that their character in the beta was made to resemble their real world selves which isn't too farfetch'd, there's 10 here besides Egiru and myself. Regardless of being _The Black Swordsman_ or not, Kirito is one of them, so we're up to 13 now. I do know of 17 others that did not participate in this fight, so they're back in town. Before we came here, I looked at the memorial stone beneath the town square, and there were 200 names etched in gold, meaning they're beta testers who have died playing. I do not know the exact whereabouts or names of others, but that should give you a rough idea."

"There's still so many." Replied Asuna. "Thank you for the information."

"I'm gonna have to charge you….." Jested Argo with a sly smile on her face.

"No you don't." Defended Egiru. "Asuna, we'll let you go about your day. Be safe out there on _Floor 2_."

"Thank you." Asuna replied, and walked off towards _Floor 2,_ to be met with the same shock of the map already filled out. She didn't quite care right now though, she was exhausted after the battle, and only sought a bed to crash into.

"So, what do you think, Argo? Do you think things are as different as they are on _Floor 2_ as they were before?" Asked Egiru.

"I'd believe so. _Floor 1_ is unlike any other floor in _Aincrad_. A brand new world is about to be discovered and opened up to all of the players. Let's hope it doesn't take the player base such a long time to get settled with the new changes as it did adjusting to life here. Or we'll be here for a while." Replied Argo.

"Agreed. We need to start forming a team. One that is organized and capable of clearing the Labyrinths and taking down the bosses. We need the testers at the core. You should start sending out notices, as we previously discussed."

"Will do. Tomorrow work?"

"For sure."

"No time to waste then!" Argo raised her hood and sprinted off. Egiru turned to enter _Floor 2_. The throne room had cleared out by this point, except for Kibaou, who was still on his knees, overlooking where Diavel's body used to be.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: "I don't care if I die."

 _4th December, 2022. Aincrad, Floor 1, The Town Of Beginnings. 10:00 PM, Aincrad Standard Time._

Klein returned to the _Warrior's Rest Inn_ , where himself, Haro, and of course Lis had been renting rooms the past few nights. Klein trudged up the stairs to the second floor, where Lis' room was. He knocked on it a few times when it swung open.

"Klein!" Lis crashed into him with an embrace. "You didn't die, you're still here!" Lis exclaimed with tears of joy in her eyes. Klein wrapped his arms back around her. Klein realised in this moment that he had felt happy and calm for the first time in a month, with Lis wrapped around him.

"Yup, I'm still here." Klein smiled back.

"Where's Haro?" Lis pulled back, now looking at Klein's face. She noticed a new scratch across his cheek, and ran the back of her hand across it. "What happened to you during the fight?"

"I didn't see Haro die. I don't know where he went off to after the fight. He's still ok though."

"I'm glad to hear it! He'll probably come around in the next few days. Maybe he was still upset about earlier."

"Maybe."

"Well come on, I'm starved! I've been so worried about you the entire day, I haven't eaten!"

"Ok, yeah, let's go."

Lis took Klein by the hand and led him downstairs to the cafe at the base of the inn. Klein didn't even have time to unequip his gear yet. The two found a table and sat down.

"So, I've been thinking the past couple of days. God, it seems so much longer than that." Began Lis. "That I'm not sure I could handle myself in a battle as dangerous as a boss battle, or even some of the Labyrinth creatures. But, I still want to support the effort to escape. So, I was considering becoming a craftsman. A blacksmith, to be exact."

"Lis, I wouldn't go that far yet. I still think you should try higher level combat once. You're strong, and you learn quickly. We get you some nice, statted out gear, train a little bit more, and maybe do some Labyrinth runs on _Floor 2_ , and see how it goes."

"I'm just so...hesitant, and anxious, and nervous, and what if.."

"Lis, stop." Klein took her hands, Lis instantly began to blush. "I don't quite know the plans for _Floor 2_ yet, or if even there are any drawn up yet. I do think it's worth a try on your end though, to be with the clearing team. Maybe not up to the boss quite yet, if you're not feeling comfortable with it, but just participate in the clearing of the Labyrinth. I'll be with you every step of the way."

"Th-thank you." Smiled Lis. "I'll maybe give it a try. Let's see how I feel in the morning."

The two enjoyed their meal and continued to chat on several lighter subjects. Eventually they finished, and after paying the tab, walked back up the stairs. Klein staying on the third floor, walked down the hallway of the second floor to Lis' room with her, sort of "walking her back home". Lis opened the door and turned around.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Man, I can't wait to see _Floor 2_!" Said Klein, and began to turn and walk away.

"Hey, um, Klein?" A nervous Lis began.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Would you mind, er, staying with me tonight? I don't want it to be anything more, and I just…..almost don't believe you're still here. I thought this morning when I saw you leave that it would be the last time I would see you, and-"

"Yes, I will. Of course I will, Lis."

"Thank you." Lis replied gently, and pulled Klein into her room.

Lis changed into her nightwear and laid back on the bed. Klein turned a chair from the living area to face Lis and sat in it. The two stayed up for a couple more hours, just continuing to talk. They even brought up their thoughts about about what was going on in the real world, something that was considered "rude" to do in game, but in the privacy they had, they were both into discussing it. Lis reminisced about the cafe Klein worked at in the real world, and Klein brought up all of his favorite stories about patrons. Eventually Lis drifted off to sleep.

Klein finally unequipped his gear. The burden from his shoulders felt lifted, both physically and metaphorically. Sitting back, and thinking of all the events that transpired throughout the day, taking some time to process them. Klein yawned and decided to call it. He looked over to the bed and Lis was already asleep, but she had left a spot open for him.

Klein laid down next Lis. She turned to face him. Klein was taken back. The only light in the room was coming from the moonlight shining through the curtain, but he could still make out Lis' beautiful brown eyes that perfectly matched her hair. Her warmth and presence from across the bed felt incredible to Klein.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Nothing, just thank you for coming back." Lis closed her eyes and smiled before falling asleep. At peace, Klein fell asleep.

 _5th December, 2022. Aincrad. Floor 2, Urbus_

Kirito awoke with a stretch, and equipped his gear. He stepped out of the inn he had laid his head in the night before, and checked the time. _5:05 AM, Aincrad Standard Time_. He was still exhausted from the boss fight, and he could feel his muscles ache. All of the training he did didn't have an affect on his physique or physical appearance in game, but his in-game stat reflected all of the work he had put in. He was still built the same as he was when he entered _Aincrad_. A rather skinny but athletically toned teenager. He could thank years of kendo practice for that. He set out towards the Labyrinth.

Following the map, the route to the Labyrinth brought him to the base of the iron obelisk on _Floor 2_. At the base, he saw engravings adorned all over the obelisk. The engravings seemed to center around a massive bull-like creature. Kirito ran his hand across the obelisk. A part of it facing him receded and dropped, revealing the entrance to the Labyrinth. He drew his sword, and entered the Labyrinth.

He was faced with his first creature. Kirito observed it had no weapons, it was just quite simply a 4 legged bull. Kirito glanced at it's level. _Level 13_. Kirito stood guarded with his weapon. The bull began to kickback before charging forward towards Kirito. Kirito was taken back by the bull's speed. Kirito thought he dodged a little bit early, but after witnessing the bull's speed, he was glad that he did. Kirito sprinted and charged an attack while the bull was turning back around. Kirito landed a series of fast strikes. The battle dynamic continued like this for a short while before the bull's HP dropped to zero. Nothing but a standard hide dropped off of the bull, but Kirito noticed his XP bar tick up a few notches. He rested briefly, and knowing what to expect, he delved further into the Labyrinth.

* * *

Argo and Egiru began posting flyers in _The Town Of Beginnings_ and _Urbus_ respectively. The flyer was plain white and simply read: "To all beta testers, It's time to organize. You know where to go. Tomorrow morning, 8:00 AM"

"That's the last one." Egiru muttered to himself after finishing.

Egiru returned to the town center of _Urbus_ where he found Argo on a bench, meal in hand.

"Took you long enough." Jested Argo.

"Whatever."

Argo produced a second bento for Egiru, and they sat and ate.

"Noticed anything different yet? From the beta that is." Asked Egiru.

"No, nothing too drastic. The most changes people will have to experience will come on this floor. We of course have to wait and see, but the other floors will act more like this one. _Argus_ really changed what _Floor 1_ would be like relative to the rest of the game. Kind of a dickish tutorial if you ask me."

"Did you remember to activate your stats crystal yet?"

"Yeah, how about you?"

"Yup, did it this morning."

"Have you happened to ask if people who weren't a part of the raid got one?"

"I didn't directly ask, but I noticed some guys today who discovered it in their inventory. And they certainly weren't part of the raid."

"Good, that should definitely help people out."

* * *

Asuna approached the entrance to _Floor 2's_ Labyrinth. It was twelve in the afternoon, and the sun was at its highest on this clear day. Asuna reached the entrance, and was about to step in when she noticed a figure coming out of the Labyrinth. She stood ready to draw her sword, fearing that this figure could be a creature trying to escape from the Labyrinth. The figure drew closer.

"Kirito, is that you?" Asuna asked as the figure came into view and was outside in the sunlight. She glanced up. _Level: 12._

Kirito turned. "Oh, hi."

"What were you doing?"

"Clearing the Labyrinth. I made it past the first staircase that leads up. This one is a lot larger than the one on _Floor 1_."

"Wait, you were fighting in there alone? There's no one else in there with you? That's very dangerous. You could easily get-"

"I don't care if I die. If I die, at least I die fighting. At least I'll know I was trying. I need to ask the same. What exactly are you doing here?"

"I came to fight as well. To clear the Labyrinth."

"You should take your own advice, Asuna. The creatures in there, are more dangerous than anything you've fought yet. Except for maybe _Illfang_. One misstep, and you'll die."

"I...I don't care if I do either."

Kirito was taken back at this response. Kirito recalled just yesterday when Asuna giggled about not knowing how to glance up to see a player's info. She didn't seem like the kind of person to Kirito to have this attitude.

"Here, take this map data. I don't mind having to fill it out again. It's filled in to as far as I got in there, the first staircase leading to the next level. You be able to take a few twists and turns into rooms that still have enemies that I didn't clear, just so you can get a feel for it." Kirito offered. He pulled up his menu, and issued the commands to condense and send the map data.

"How do I hit accept?"

"Oh, here, pull up your map, and you should get prompted to receive information from me."

Asuna did as instructed, and watched the sub map of the Labyrinth fill before being abruptly stopped at the first staircase.

"That's as far as I got." Said Kirito.

"Thanks."

"Be careful in there. I might care if you do die, Asuna."

The line struck Asuna. How did she take that statement? Was he saying he doesn't care right now, but would if she ended up dying? Or was it he cares right now?

"I'll do what I need to get stronger."

* * *

Asuna departed into the Labyrinth. Kirito found a clear spot just outside the entrance and produced lunch from his inventory. Even though it was Winter, the weather was nice today. The sun felt warm on Kirito's skin, and he could feel a light breeze through his hair. Suddenly, when the breeze was quiet, he noticed the faint sounds of weapons clanging against each other.

"Well, she must be managing ok." Kirito thought to himself.

There were many varieties of creatures in the Labyrinth besides the bull that he first fought. He eventually encountered creatures with weapons, and put up a bit more of a challenging fight. The echoes went quiet, before being broken by a shattering sound. Immediately Kirito perked up. He recognised what that sound was.

"Asuna!"

Kirito sprinted into the Labyrinth. He could feel the adrenaline starting to kick in.

"Asuna!" He desperately shouted. "Where are you?!"

He only heard a scream in response, he could hear it echo almost endlessly through the bounds of the Labyrinth. But he thought he may have heard where it came from. Suddenly he heard the sound of flesh being cut, followed by another scream of pain. Kirito made a sharp left into a room off of the primary pathway of the Labyrinth. He found her.

"Asuna!"

Kirito drew his sword and sprinted for an attack on the creature, who had his weapon raised for a final blow against Asuna. Kirito briefly glanced over to her direction, a giant red damage wound was in the center of her abdomen, and her health was in the low red zone. Just as the creature began to lower his weapon to strike, Kirito parried it away and retaliated with a series of blows in the opening he created, finishing off the creature. He ran over to Asuna, pulling out a health potion.

"Drink this."

Asuna sipped on the potion, and they both slowly watched her health restore as well as the red wound on her body diminish. _SAO's_ damage indication system appeared as very "gameified" wounds on the body of the player. A light red color consumed the damaged area, and instead of blood and flesh a grid pattern could be seen. From Kirito's knowledge in the beta, limbs of players could actually be severed, albeit temporarily before being restored as the player's HP went up. HP only naturally regenerated outside of combat. The only way to restore HP during combat would be to drink health potions to recover.

"I-...I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. I-I was fighting when-"

Asuna was visibly shaken by the encounter. She was struggling to get words out, just trying to explain what went wrong, and how she ended up in the situation.

"I-...I was fighting. And my weapon, it-"

"It shattered." Completed Kirito. "The durability of the weapon fell to zero. In this game, weapons have a durability stat. The more it's used, the lower the durability counter goes. When it reaches zero, the weapon shatters and breaks. You can get it restored to its maximum durability at a blacksmith."

"I'm so stupid!" Asuna began to sob. "I didn't even know that was a mechanic. I didn't-"

"When you killed _Illfang_ , you got an item in your inventory. A _Stats Crystal_. Have you used it yet?"

"No, I haven't."

"Activate it when you get the chance to. When you get out of here. It'll let you see the more detailed stats of a weapon besides damage. Durability is one of those stats. I don't know why _Argus_ decided to lock this ability into an item only obtained by completing the first floor. I guess no one used their weapon enough on the first floor to have their weapons shattered, or else they would've made a fuss about it. There was no crystal back then, so that was kind of new to me as well."

Back then? Asuna thought. Was he referring to the beta?

"Asuna, the way back to the entrance is clear. You should spend the rest of the day away from here. Come back when you're ready. There's no rush."

Kirito stood up and began to walk away. Asuna remained sitting on the ground.

"Kirito, thank you."

Kirito continued to walk away. Eventually Asuna couldn't hear his footsteps, and she knew she was alone again. She remained sitting in place, her head tucked into her knees.

* * *

Kirito returned to _Urbus_. Walking through the town, he noticed the flyer put up by Argo and Egiru.

"You know the place?" Kirito thought. He recalled his time during the beta. Where would the players meet when discussing the floor boss?

"Oh, that's right." He recalled the caverns beneath the _Tolbana_ ampitheatre. It was more of a private place beneath the primary performance area of _Tolbana_.

* * *

Kibaou walked through the streets of _Urbus_ with his head down.

"How dare he?" He mumbled and questioned out loud, but only to himself. "How dare he steal from us? How dare he kill us? To let us die like he did? He deserves worse than what he brought upon us. Much worse. Enjoy the glory now, Beater. Your day will come."

"You ok there?" Asked a hooded figure, approaching from a backstreet.

"What? Yeah of course. Just thinking out loud."

"He let one of my friends die too."

"Wha-"

"Right in front of his eyes, and he didn't do a thing."

"Bastard."

"You don't have to tell me. It seems I want revenge on him as much as you do."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Nothing yet. Just some help exploring some….game mechanics."

"I'll help you. I never caught your name."

"I know yours."

"Yes, but what's yours? I want to know."

"Haro."


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: Of course, thank you to the audience who has read thus far. Anyway, little bit of an update. I previously mentioned I had up to Floor 4 written,and was just editing the stuff through when I could. With this being said, I have scrapped everything past this point, so am doing a full rewrite of everything past this point. Chapter 11 here was actually on the chopping block also, but it got salvaged. So I feel I should divulge a few details about writing thus far, and maybe why I scrapped what I had. The first problem I realised was It definitely felt like I was force feeding a lot of details or game mechanics. This chapter is admittedly guilty of that also. One of the original goals was to flesh out and highly detail the the game of _SAO_. While I am attempting that, I try to disguise details as them being displayed naturally, like through conversation. But this ends up leading on for a while, and the character kind of "drones on". I went back to read other works, not necessarily SAO related, and I notice a lot of books do this. Feed details about the world as we're witnessing a conversation, and even sometimes these conversations or "lines" so to speak are as long as what you find here. But for some reason, and I can't tell if it's just because I'm looking at it as the author who wrote it, it seems more forced. So, I am definitely being a lot more critical of myself in this regard.

Continuing, I do feel kind of trapped writing this. As I read more and more of Progressive, Kawahara does an amazing job of fleshing out the game there even more than he did in the original source material and of course the anime adaptation, I find out more and more of what sort of things I need to leave out, or change. I say it's a feeling of trapped because the world for this story needs to be similar but different. Or rather, different but still very recognisable. If I fail to accomplish this, than this just becomes an almost direct ripoff. I struggle to keep a balance of keeping everything recognisable but also different enough. And in order to fix this, I do keep going back and forth of deciding to keep the same mechanics of the game, but tell a different story of and with the characters, kind of similar to what some other writings on here do. Or alternatively, keep most of the events the same, but change the game around. I am of course leaning on the former, because that will make the story more original, and I doubt anyone just wants to read a story with game mechanics changed to an inconsequential degree. When trying to modify both characters/story as wel lot of game mechanics, I run into the issue discussed above of going into hyper-specific detail of mechanic's being brought up, in order to show they are different from the original. Another problem that I fear I have, but am not sure, is if I'm properly respecting my reader's intelligence, and if having these specific details laid out almost all at once insults the intelligence of the readers.

So, these are the things I struggle with when writing this, which is why some chapters seem a bit more fillery than others. I will say, nothing written has really been useless. Maybe certain tiny, insignificant details will pop up later.

When crafting the forward, I laid out that this was intended to be more of a crack filling improvement for SAO. As the story got written, I believe it slowly became more and more of its own thing. Which I'm happy it evolved into. So, I guess the way to sum up what I'm asking is, and I am asking for direct input of the readers here, is: Have enough mechanics changed that you would like to see the story adopt some of the other mechanics form the original and use them as elements, with little to change, but like to focus more on the characters? This would mean that a lot of the outcomes would be different, but the journeys to reach that point will be different. That's the best way I would describe it. Or, the next "option" or thing I'm asking for input on is do you mind the specific detail that is used to explain mechanics form the original that has changed? If a lot of the feedback gears towards this, than the story will largely be formatted and written as it is now, I'll just try to be a bit smarter about things. And of course, any other inputs that you have that you feel would contribute or be helpful, doesn't need to be the things laid out, are welcome as well. I do believe the website has a way to PM me. Or, if you have no username and wish to remain anonymous, I believe you can leave a review that need moderation on my end or something like that, so if it is input that you don't want to attach your name to or don't have an account, then just leave one of these reviews that needs moderation or whatever the wording is, just put something like "input don't approve for review section" in the review to leave your input. I'll of course read it. I read everything said about this story.

So thank you all. I just wanted to give an update of where I'm at on things. I look forward to reading all of the input. There is a soft time limit on when input directly regarding this will no longer be relevant, and I believe you'll be able to tell when that point comes. And of course, another thank you to the readers that have made it thus far.

Chapter 11: "No Man Is An Island"

 _6th December, 2022. Aincrad, Floor 1, Tolbana Catacombs. 8:00 AM, Aincrad Standard Time_

The basement of _Tolabana_ was dark and damp. Green moss could be seen growing between the cracks of the stonework. Everything was dark around Kirito, save for what the massive fire sconce lit in front of him. Behind the flames stood Egiru and Argo. People were still trickling behind Kirito, forcing him and the others already there to shift positions periodically around the flame to make room for everyone.

"They could have picked a more spacious place for this little meeting." Kirito thought to himself as he yawned. He had stayed out too late grinding monsters in the Labyrinth, but to his credit, he managed to clear the entire second level of the Labyrinth. Kirito no longer gained experience from the monsters in the Labyrinth. It was known all other monsters on the floor besides the ones in the Labyrinth would either be weaker or of the same level, so if anything was going to level Kirito up, it would be the creatures in the Labyrinth. The creatures in the Labyrinth also offered the best chance at rare or powerful item drops, an incentive that enticed Kirito. And being solo, he wouldn't have to worry about sharing loot or materials that dropped. A sad note for Kirito was that no rare or powerful item had dropped for him on _Floor 2_ yet, but he had accumulated quite a bit of crafting materials. His _Coat Of Midnight_ that dropped from _Illfang_ was rather high level, sitting at a pretty level 20, as he checked this morning. Much higher level than at least any piece of gear that could be acquired on _Floor 2_ , but Kirito was unsure how long the item would be viable for. Would he find a good replacement on the next floor? His experience in the beta led him to an initial conclusion of "no", but _Argus_ could have tweaked the item level system and scaling upon full release of _SAO_.

Kirito didn't understand the discreteness of this meeting. Between the ambiguous poster and the hidden away location, Egiru and Argo certainly wanted to keep this as secretive as possible. There was a lull in the crowd of people, as the flow seemed to have stopped.

"Alright, it looks like everyone who is going to be here, is here. " Initiated Egiru. "I'll let Argo lead off this little meeting."

"Good morning, fellow beaters. Heh." Argo chuckled at the last word. "This meeting is to serve as a sort of after action report, as well as a general guidance meeting for the beta testers. We're not going to try and form a guild or anything, but well, I'll explain as we go on. Now the first order of business is the discussion of the _Illfang_ fight. I look around, and it looks like I see….twenty…... _nine?_ Of you? All of you who were in the beta and the first boss fight are here. The ones who decided to sit out the fight are here as well. But you…" Argo pointed her finger at someone, drawing the attention of the crowd. Kirito looked over. The man looked older, maybe in his mid forties, and had long grey and black hair. He stood with a full set of heavy plate armor, clad in white and red. To match the armor, he wielded a sword and massive shield.

"Well, he's certainly a tank." Kirito thought to himself.

The man gave off a massive sense of presence that was almost overwhelming when attention was called to him.

"Ah yes. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Heathcliff . I also played the beta, although I would understand if you don't recognise me. My appearance there was a lot different then it is now, as well as my fighting style."

"Well, glad you're here anyway." Continued Argo. "Overall, _Illfang_ went well. The only casualty was Diavel. If it had gone like our first time in the beta, not many of us would be here right now. Let's get one thing straight, Diavel was a beta tester as well, but it was due to his arrogance and greed that he died. So those of you who were in the beta don't need to feel responsible for his death. He had enough game knowledge to be able to recognise a _Nodachi_ over a _Talwar_ , and should have made a different call then he did. I just wanted to clear that up before Egiru takes over for a little bit."

"Right," Started Egiru. "Overall, the strategy that we used for _Illfang_ was very successful, so not too much more needs be said than that. His change of weapon was a surprise, but it was a wake up call. Although we all played the beta, we don't know what's exactly changed, but a lot of the fundamental systems are the same if not very similar to what we played in the beta. I have a feeling, and I think we all do, that it's little details like the _Talwar_ and _Nodachi_ that have been changed around, and that's what we need to watch out for."

"The next topic to bring up is our social status." Began Argo. "The aftermath of the _Illfang_ fight was rather illuminating. I'm sure you've all read my book…..heh…ok honestly that's irrelevant. As we learned in the moments after the fight, the mass population of players, we'll refer to them as _Mijukus_ , feel like they're owed something by us beta testers. I honestly hate the term "Beaters" that they have coined for us. So we'll refer to experienced and beta players as _Keikens_. Any how, and some of them expressed this more than others, there is a sense of anger among the _Mijukus_. While most of us, as far as I'm aware have been good at this, it's not a good idea to go blabbing about how you're an experienced beta player. At least for the time being. If you add pieces of knowledge from the beta to a conversation, and someone asks you how you know it, find any excuse besides "Oh, I played the beta." Find an excuse like "I found out from the information broker named Argo." If these people peg you as a beta tester, not only will unhealthy levels of paranoia grow, but it will also foster anger and resentment. For whatever reason, a lot of _Mijukus_ resent and blame the beta testers for the over 2000 casualties of _Floor 1_. They feel like we should have done more to safeguard less experienced players. And I'm sure some of you did. I can recall beta players giving little mini tutorials and combat tips to new players on day one. However, they feel that we needed to do more. I did my best, but hey, a girl can only write so fast." Argo joked with a smile. "The current etiquette standards that have developed in _Aincrad_ among players are beneficial to conceal your identity and experience level. For example, it's rude to glance up at a player's name and level, and is considered more polite or formal to verbally ask. While name is always ok to ask, it can even be considered rude to even ask a player's level. Luckily the system is designed in a way so that you really can't accidentally glance and see it. The simple action of glancing up has to be intentional. It helps when the _NerveGears_ read our brainwaves to discern this intention. I assume, and I think it's reasonable, that these social etiquettes in part formed in order to combat class, or in this case, "experience" warfare. And then of course besides this, there's the general stuff like it's impolite to bring up real life, etc. Anyway, enough of social norms. As I was saying, try and keep it hidden that you are a beta tester. It'll work out better for everyone. Please don't blame yourselves for the casualties suffered. We may be good at the game in the sense of combat or other things, but we had to learn to live in this world too, just like everyone else. Some of us are still getting used to it. Apologies, I did kind of get side tracked."

"Don't worry about it." Continued Egiru. "So, the real point is, well, we need to organize. The _Floor 1_ raid squad could best be described as "ragtag" or "thrown together". While that may have worked with _Floor 1_ , Argo and I think, and I believe many of you will share the same logic, that we need an experienced and dedicated team capable of clearing Floors. And the sooner we organize this, the sooner we all escape. I'm not saying we all need serve combat roles, this team will be a very diverse group of people. Nor does it exclude _Mijukus_ either. Deemed "The Clearers", this organization will have three "heads" or "teams". For the "Assault Team", what we're calling the primary military and combat head of this team, we need all the players we can get who are already proficient or quick to achieve proficiency at combat. Ideally, players that are _more_ than proficient at combat, but if they're willing to learn, adapt, and have an unbreakable will and desire to fight, we'll take them. Regardless of being a _Mijuku_ or _Keiken_. The same can be said for the other heads. We just ask that they honestly and properly gauge themselves in the role their signed up for. If they feel they aren't up to par, we expect them to leave and pursue another team. It's all at their own risk. The next head to introduce is the "Supply Team", very original, I know. This encompasses the craftsmen and artisans who are tasked with providing food, potions, weapons, and of course armors to the Assault Team. The Supply Team will also encompass who still want to fight, but maybe not the harrowing experiences the Assault Team offers. These players will go around killing world monsters and creatures for material drops to bring to our craftsmen in order to make better and better gear. The combat part of the Supply Team is also a great opportunity for players to train and get combat experience before joining the Assault Team, if they wish. The last head, and this will be the smallest and most discreet, is "The Information Team". This encompasses people like _Argo_ who have a knack for acquiring and distributing information about the game world. Furthermore, to clear some things up, we don't wish to make a giant guild or anything like that. Think of this more of like a coalition, where many different groups of many different players all work in a semi-organised manner to accomplish a unified goal. We wish to respect rules and customs of other guilds that wish to help. All players or guilds need to do to support the cause is show up and help in what portions they can. The first few floors will still be kind of unorganised, but once we get a feel for which guilds or players wish to contribute the most, then we can determine things like the "leaders" of The Clearers, the guilds or players who act as the face of the coalition. This guild will take up the duties of things like establishing the intra organizational structure and economics of The Clearers, as well as determining other things like goals or strategies. But, we'll cross that bridge in a few floors. For now, Argo and I will serve as the tentative heads for The Clearers."

"Are you _finally_ done?" Argo asked with a yawn. "I was starting to think that would go on forever."

"I...yeah, I am."

"Good. This pretty much adjourns the meeting. We will be posting what could best be described as sign up sheets next to informational sheets describing all of this. By signing this sheet, you agree to help whichever head of The Clearers you choose until at least the end of _Floor 2_ , think of it like a temporary contract. We also encourage you to tell other players you may know of that will be a good fit. The more people we get, the better. Please encourage them to sign up. We will leave a sign up sheet here, and later in the day be posting them all around _Urbus_ and _The Town Of Beginnings_. After seven days, we will collect the sheets and go from there. Thank you all for attending."

Argo turned to Egiru. "Whew, feeling a little light headed from talking so much. I don't know how you managed to do it."

"Just takes practice." Replied Egiru.

"This is quite the noble vision." Kirito thought to himself. "But, they can suit themselves." Kirito was irked at how long the meeting took. He could be clearing the third level of the Labyrinth with this time, but instead, he believed he attended a sales pitch and got told how to behave properly.

* * *

"So, Mister Beater, your name was absent on the sign up sheet." Egiru stated, as he approached Kirito, who he found sitting on a bench in the town square of _Urbus_.

"What? Oh yeah." Kirito lowered his head, staring at the ground.

"Not only that, you left in a hurry."

"It was dark and dreary down there, I needed some fresh air."

"Fair enough. That still doesn't change the fact that you're not on the list."

"I didn't need to be told how to act, Egiru. I didn't need to be told how to conduct myself. Why do you think I'm a solo player? The guilds that have formed so far all have rules and mannerisms to conform to. I wish to act on my own, be who I am, and not be dictated to."

"You're limited in your capabilities as a solo player."

"I would argue I may be able to achieve more solo than working in a team."

"If you don't like the guilds that have already formed, then make your own."

"Too much work. In the time that's spent running and organizing a guild, I could use that time to clear the Labyrinth or train harder."

"So, you are interested in clearing Labyrinths, then why didn't you sign up? Didn't you pay attention during the meeting? The Clearers is a coalition, and doesn't have any rules it imposes on the players or guilds apart of it."

"It still ties me down. Call me greedy, but even having to work as a team in a party to clear the Labyrinth decreases the chance of good drops. You know from the beta, loot drops are improved if the creature was killed in a solo manner. This game, this life, rewards risk. Egiru, if The Clearers are there when I'm there, maybe I'll help. Don't expect me to go out of my way."

"No man is an island, Kirito." Ended Egiru, who turned and walked away towards the market.

* * *

"Klein! _Urbus_ is so beautiful!" Cheered Lis, looking up from her bento. The two were enjoying lunch on this clear day.

"Yeah, the change of scenery is nice. It was hard to look at _The Town Of Beginnings_ for a month, that's for sure." Agreed Klein.

"Have you heard anything about clearing _Floor 2_ yet?"

"No, not yet. But I'm sure something is in the works. And I get the feeling Kirito is part of it. Knowing him, he probably has a plan in place already. Dude is smart at this game."

"Yeah, that's right. I've started hearing stories from the boss fight. Apparently he made a really good team with another awesomely skilled fighter."

"Well, you heard right! The girl he finished the boss with, she moved quick as lightning. Damn, she was fast!"

"I want to be as strong as her."

"Well, that'll take a lot of hard work!"

"I'm ready for it, don't worry!"

"Well, after lunch, let's try our luck at the Labyrinth. We should be ok with just the two of us, especially on the lower levels. Who knows, you or I might even get a rare drop!" Klein exclaimed, making Lis giggle.

"Sounds good."

"Oh, Lis, I forgot one thing."

"What is it?"

"Allow me to formally extend an invitation to _Fuurinkazan_!"

"You uh, created a guild?"

"Yup! That's right. Figured it might be best way to go."

"Well, I accept your invitation." Lis giggled, and shook Klein's hand in a sarcastic manner, as if the two had just made a business deal.

* * *

"Hello, miss, welcome to Cherry Red. How can I help you?" Asked the shopkeeper.

"Excuse me, but are you a player or NPC?" Asuna asked timidly.

"Well, I'm as real as can be in this world. The name is Fuji, pleased to meet you miss."

"You as well."

"So, what brings you into my shop?"

"I'm looking for a weapon, but I don't see any of the type I want on your shelves."

"Well miss, I'd be happy to handcraft a brand new weapon for you, if you can't find one you like. But I assure you, you won't find a larger variety of weapons on _Floor 2!_ "

"That may be the case, but I don't see any Rapiers."

"Well miss, the demand for those is miniscule, to be quite honest. Not many people use them or come looking for them, so I really don't keep a stock. Have you fought with a rapier before?"

"Well yes, it's all I've really fought with before."

Asuna thought back to the real world, recalling her younger school days. She participated in fencing years ago as an activity, not favoring Kendo over it, much to the disdain of her mother and father, who thought she was abandoning her culture to a certain extent. In recent years, Asuna had stopped Fencing practice, to better focus on her studies. A reason which seemed to at minimum appease her parents.

"Well, I do have the basic materials on hand, so I could go make you one right now. For some extra coin, I can throw in any special materials you may have on you to better enhance the weapon during crafting."

"Special...materials?"

"Once the first floor was cleared, every player got an item in their inventory. A _Stats Crystal_ , have you heard of it or used it yet, miss?"

"Yeah….yeah I have." Asuna said in a slightly soured tone, recalling the experience in the Labyrinth.

"Well good. Chances are you've only seen durability on armor and weapons thus far. People with the blacksmithing skill got to see another system that was previously unknown to us. We call it the _Enhansumento_ system. During the forging of a weapon, or even after a weapon has been forged, certain materials can be used to "upgrade" the weapon. For example, look at that mace over there. If you pull up the item text and info window, you'll see t named as "Ironfist Hammer +1" The "+1" indicates the sum of enhancements on the weapon. Then, if you look at the details of the weapon, you'll see +1 Strength. There are 4 upgrade stats for weapons, that we know of, at least. The two primary ones are Strength and Sharpness. The two secondary stats, as we refer to them, are Durability and Speed. Weapons can only have one primary upgrade on them at one time, so you couldn't have both primary upgrade stats on the same weapon. Strength, just like that mace you're looking at, increases an item's damage output and durability, it effectively makes the weapon tougher. The drawback is the weapon becomes much heavier, so it's attack speed slows down. The other primary upgrade stat is Sharpness. Like Strength, Sharpness increases a weapon's damage but reduces its durability, while at the same time also providing a weight reduction, allowing the weapon to be swung faster. With regards to the primary stat, a weapon can only have one upgraded at a time. So either Strength or Sharpness. Also, certain weapons can only be upgraded with one stat, while others can have either applied to them. For example, you can't apply a Sharpness upgrade to a Mace, but you could theoretically apply either Strength or Sharpness to a Rapier. Although I don't know why you would want a heavier Rapier. Those things are supposed to be fast. Anyway, oh that's right, the other two stats. The secondary upgrade stats, and can be applied to any weapon, are Speed and Durability. They both do as they sound, where Speed further decreases the weight of the weapon so it become faster to wield but has the drawback of reduced Durability, and Durability increases the Durability of a weapon, while making it a bit heavier as well. These secondary stats are more used for fine tuning a weapon to a user's preference, and can be used on either Strength or Sharpened weapons. For example, a user may apply a Speed upgrade on top of Strength in order to offshoot the weight increase if they feel it is too heavy. They'll lose most of the benefits of the Durability increase the Strength upgrade offered them, but overall it works out a slight net gain, in most cases. It's all up to the wielder. Oh, and if we want to consider upgrading this Rapier, there's a percent chance it fails. Only blacksmiths and appraisers can see this, but each weapon also has an upgrade limit, and it's mostly based on the un-upgraded level and quality of the weapon itself. For example, that Mace with +1 is fairly basic, so it has an upgrade limit of 1. But a weapon dropped from a floor boss even here on _Floor 2_ could probably have up to a +6 in possibilities. Aside from upgrade potential, there's the aforementioned upgrade chance, also exclusive to blacksmiths and appraisers. When adding an upgrade to the weapon, there's a percent chance it will fail. This goes down through factors like quality of materials and the craftsmen's level and skill. Each failed attempt at upgrading the weapon adds to the counter. Once that counter's limit is reached, the weapon will actually shatter.. I'll tell you on that Mace right there, it's counter is at 2/3. Which means I failed twice at upgrading it before succeeding on the third try. Say if the Mace had a higher upgrade potential to 2, I could even attempt to try and make it to +2 but it would be very risky. If I fail, the weapon is destroyed And also...oh I'm so sorry miss, I've been talking none stop near 10 minutes now. I must have bored you immeasurably. "

"What? Oh no it's fine. I certainly learned a lot." Asuna giggled, and waved it off.

"Anyway, how about we get back to business? A Rapier was it?"

"Yes, that's correct. I'll give you what I think might count as an upgrade material. Although I'm not sure."

"Well, let's see it."

Asuna stumbled through navigating her menus. Even after a month, she still had troubles using the system to a certain degree, but she managed to get by. She hated using the menus to store stuff, so she always manually performed the actions that whisked items away to her inventory. Asuna navigated to a drop she got off of the creature that Kirito saved her from. Quicksilver Ingot.

"Here you go, if I had to guess, it's a speed metal."

"Well you would be correct! Say, want to learn the smithing trade?" Fuji kidded. "Anyway, _Quicksilver_ happens to be the highest quality upgrade material available to us right now. You're almost guaranteed a +1 speed upgrade to this Rapier. However, me adding it will cost you a bit extra…"

"That's fine, I'm sure I have enough to cover it."

"19,000 Cor sound fair?"

Asuna was taken by surprise at the price. She only had 20,000 Cor to her name.

"Y-yeah, I suppose so….If you don't mind me asking, why is it so expensive? Blades on _Floor 1_ only costed around 16,000 Cor.

"Well miss, not only are the quality of materials being used higher than what could be used on _Floor 1,_ but it is also being enhanced upon creation and is custom made. So it is a bit more expensive. I'm sorry to offend you miss. If it's too much, maybe we can discuss another weapon that can be made or maybe you'll find one around the shop that you'll like?"

"Oh no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be a bother and haggle. I just got curious about it. It's no issue at all. Here you go." Asuna initiated the menus to send the currency to Fuji.

"Thank you very much miss. If you'll follow me outside to the forge, I'll have this right out and made for you."

Asuna followed Fuji outside. The process was very quick, as it mostly comprised of Fuji gathering materials in his inventory, and initiating the commands. Pretty soon an "in progress" bar came up and began filling out over the course of a minute while the Rapier was actually being made. At the end of the minute, a brand new Rapier lied in front of Asuna and Fuji.

"Well here you are, miss. It says here she's called _Hayaidesu._ A lovely name if you ask me. And oh? What's this? You lucked out on this one miss. It says it has a +6 upgrade potential. Well, 5 more now because Speed was infused successfully. And because the upgrade was successful during forging, it didn't add to the upgrade attempt counter, so you're sitting at a pretty 0/10. I must say, I should charge you a lot more, the potential of that blade will last you a while. But we agreed on the price, so you are of course free to keep it. Please come back to my shop when you need the durability repaired. I would love to work on her again."

"Thank you. You did an amazing job. I'll be sure to come back. Thanks again!"

Asuna sheathed the newly forged Rapier and began to walk out of the shop. She was still turned around, waving to Fuji. She didn't see the next customer coming into the shop and bumped shoulders with him. She turned around into a figure clad in all black and grey. She recognised him, but the swordsman's name escaped her.

""Oh Sorry. Excuse me."" They both apologized at the same time.

"It's you. Hi Asuna." Kirito stammered out. A strange sense of nerves overcame Kirito when just saying this simple greeting. He could see Asuna's hair down again, as she was in rare form of not having her hood up. The sight almost stupefied Kirito. The same sense of amazement he got when _Illfang_ tore the hood off with one of his strikes and her hair flowed down. As much as Kirito tried to project otherwise, he was still the 14 year old mildly introverted MMO enthusiast, and the beauty of a girl his age (she had to be around his age right? Maybe a little older maybe a little younger? He thought), especially one playing an MMO, was undeniable. Who could blame him?

"Oh. What are you doing here?" Asuna asked.

"I see you got your weapon situation figured out. I ran into a little bit of an issue myself. It's not a big deal though."

Asuna stretched to see over his shoulder. The height difference between them wasn't massive, but it was still present. She noticed his scabbard was empty.

"What happened?"

"Let's just say I got a little reckless."

This drew Asuna's curiosity. The calculating Kirito, Mr. Perfect as far a some were concerned, made a mistake? She decided to stick around the shop for a bit, to see what Kirito needed.

"Hello, uh-...sir." Kirito greeted the shop owner.

"Howdy! The names Fuji!" Came the over enthused reply. "What can I do for you today?"

"I need you to recreate a weapon."

"What kind of weapon are we talking here?"

"A one handed sword. But it's a +6, to be exact."

"I-I'm sorry. A +6 weapon? You do understand what you're saying, right?"

"I understand. Now can you create one or not?" Asuna heard a sense of anger or frustration in Kirito's voice.

"I certainly have the skill to." Replied Fuji.

"Good. I acquired a blade with a potential of +6 from a drop a little while ago. It dropped as a +5, and I took it to another blacksmith shop to try and have it reach its maximum potential. But, neither me or the shopkeeper noticed the attempt counter. The other smith attempted and failed, and that was already the end of the blade. A stupid mistake I know."

"Don't worry about it. Mistakes happen to the best of us."

"Maybe they do."

"Now, what were the specifics of this blade?"

"It was one handed, as previously stated, and was a Longsword. +3 Sharpness, and +3 Durability. Or at least, it was intended to be. Please don't lecture me about some of the cancelling benefits having those two upgrades applied have. I'm aware. The reason I have it configured this way is the feel. To be quite honest with you, I really couldn't care less about the actual stats of a weapon. To me, it has to feel right when I use it. It has to match my pace and flow in combat. This combination feels the best to me. These stats change the system, not just damage numbers."

"I can understand that. Now you're asking for kind of a lot here. I certainly have the base materials, but will need all of the special materials from you."

"That won't be an issue." Kirito assured, as he navigated his menu and instantly made all sorts of metals appear, they encompassed the shop's countertop table, and even fell onto the ground. "Is that enough?" Kirito asked almost sarcastically, as Fuji's jaw dropped to the ground.

"Yes, I'm sure this will be plenty. You can have some of these back if you want."

"No, you can keep them."

"Do I even want to know how you got so many?"

"Let's just say I've killed a lot of monsters."

"Well, if you'll follow me out to the forge, we can get started." Fuji beckoned as the three exited the side door into the yard where the forge was. "Now, am I to attempt to put all of the enhancements on during the creation process? It has a lower chance of success but will not tick the attempt counter up. If it fails, all the materials will be wasted."

"I'm aware of the risks, and yes I want you to."

"Customer is always right."

Fuji initiated the creation process. The progress bar came up as usual. Kirito grew tenser as the bar neared the finish. At any given point, it could turn red and the entire process would be for naught. After what felt like an eternity to Kirito, the bar reached the finish with a little sound effect of a ding. Of course the word "Success!" popped up. After a few seconds, the blade was resting on the anvil. The blade was pure black, with a silver outlined hilt.

"Well would you look at that. That is one beauty. +6 just as you specified, and oh, what's this? It's telling me she has a potential of +8. And of course, her counter is a 0/2. Well, I guess things can't always be perfect. Be very careful when trying to achieve +8. Her name is _Kahō_. Memorable, if you ask me."

"Thanks." Kirito said as he took the sword and sheathed it. It faded away and appeared in his equipment list in the inventory, before reappearing in the scabbard. This little process was _SAO's_ way of processing and acknowledging formal ownership of the weapon. "Also, we never talked about price."

"I didn't even want to begin about the price. But if you insist…"

"I have enough, whatever it is. Just name it what you want."

"45,000 Cor."

Asuna's was silently stunned. She could hardly fathom the amount of Cor Fuji was asking for. Did Kirito really have that much? She wondered.

"Here you go." Kirito used his menu to create and transfer the 45,000 Cor as a game object. The object he chose was fittingly a coin pouch. "Thanks."

"Make sure you stop by again sometime."

"Thanks." Kirito turned to walk out of the shop. Asuna followed him out.

"Hey, you didn't have to be so rude back there." Asuna began to scold Kirito, as she pulled her hood back up, concealing her face and expressions.

"What do you mean?" Kirito replied, puzzled and slightly surprised at Asuna's new found courage to take up an issue.

"You acted like a complete know it all towards the poor shopkeeper. He was just trying to help you, making sure you knew everything. If you ask me, he was being responsible. Making sure a customer didn't get irate because of an issue causing a problem that they weren't informed about. Honorable, even." Asuna concluded with a matter of factual tone.

"Oh well, I guess. Have you eaten anything today?"

"You're already thinking about food?"

"What? I haven't eaten anything today. And it's already late in the afternoon. Come on, let's go to the market."


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: Short one this time. Thanks again to those that have read this far, and continue to follow this story. Your support is what keeps me writing. Thank you. As a follow up to the previous note, I appreciate all the feedback received. From a culmination of feedback, I have determined what I believe to be the best way forward, as well as address all of the issues previously raised in the last note. Thank you all again.

Chapter 12

 _6th December, 2022. Aincrad, Floor 2,Urbus Town Center. 3:00 PM, Aincrad Standard Time_

Kirito sat next to Asuna on a bench in the center of _Urbus_. Asuna elected to keep her hood up, revealing only a glimpse of her side profile to those that would be looking. The statue turned fountain in front of them depicted a horseman with a sword drawn, charging into battle. It's weathered bronze tinge reflected the sunlight, while allowing details to be illuminated. The two both enjoyed a simple bread roll. When hunger was an illusion, was it worth paying more for better or more food?

"I-I'm sorry if this is rude to ask, but did you play other MMOs before this one?" Asuna asked with a soft tone contrasting to just a few minutes ago when she asked Kirito to be a little bit less rude to people.

"Yeah." Kirito simply replied.

"Oh, well how does this compare to them?"

" _SAO_ is nothing like them. Sure, some mechanics are similar. But this game...this life. It actively tries to kill you by rewarding risk."

"Oh, I see." Asuna got the sense Kirito didn't want to continue with the thought process. But she had one more question nagging at her to ask. "Can I ask you something else?"

"What?"

"Why did you save me that day?"

"I don't know."

"Oh."

Kirito was surprised at her response. He didn't expect such a short, unsatisfactory answer to be accepted so easily by Asuna. But it was the truth, what more did he have to say?

"Got anything else you want to ask?"

"No."

"I guess...I thought it wasn't your time, or something like that. Or some other dumb reason. I just kind of reacted when I heard your weapon break. I don't really know why I did."

"Thank you."

The two returned to their bread in silence. Kirito finished his and stood up.

"I'll see you around." Kirito walked off, heading towards the Labyrinth.

Asuna was alone with her thoughts.

* * *

 _7th December, 2022. Aincrad, Floor 2, Labyrinth. 12:00 AM, Aincrad Standard Time_

The caverns of the labyrinth were empty except for Kirito and the monsters, Kirito sheathed his sword and caught his breath. He found the nearest pillar and scrolled through his menus.

"Useless, useless…" Kirito muttered to himself scrolling through the item list he had amassed over that past few hours. None of the creatures he had slain dropped anything worth while. He planned on just selling the items for a bit of Cor. Kirito pulled up his map. "This should be enough." His map was filled out to several more levels of the Labyrinth. As a rule of thumb, the enemies got progressively more difficult the higher the level in the Labyrinth you were, and the boss's room was always on the 20th, highest, level of the Labyrinth. _Floor 1_ was laid out nicely in the beta test. _Floor 2_ , as Kirito remembered, not so much. "Oh, it's almost time to meet." Kirito checked the time in his menu.

 _7th December, 2022. Aincrad, Floor 2,Urbus. 1:00 AM, Aincrad Standard Time_

"So, how far did you get?" Argo asked, sitting next to Kirito.

"Not far enough." Replied Kirito.

Argo examined the data Kirito gave to her. "Not bad. Thanks, the Assault Team will use this in the morning. You're welcome to join them, of course."

"No thanks. I don't want people to get in my way. Or for me to do the same to them."

"You do know that only money and XP drops are split among players right? It doesn't notify people if you got a nice drop. You've already capped the XP for this floor, so is the money that drops really that important?"

"Yeah, but item drop rate is modified. If a rare item were to drop, there's no guarantee I would get it. If it drops, it randomly decides who gets it based on who participated in combat with the creature. It doesn't do last hit like on a boss. And you can't always trade items that dropped for you."

"So...it really is that important?"

"I would rather remove myself from the chances of it being split to me, allow other players to get a nice item. And I would rather have all the chances. So all I have to worry about is whether or not it dropped."

"Suit yourself, I guess. Just be careful." Argo finished, and paid Kirito for the data.

"Thanks."

* * *

 _7th December, 2022. Aincrad, Floor 2,Urbus. 7:00 AM, Aincrad Standard Time_

"Rise and shine! Come on! We got work to do!" Klein knocked on Lis's door to wake her up.

"Ugh, I'm up." Replied Lis from her inn room.

Lis got dressed and equipped her armor. Before leaving she looked in the mirror once more, and took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing."

The two departed into the field just outside of Urbus, slaying creatures to train Lis.

* * *

"So, how are you liking it?" Klein asked, as the two breaked for lunch.

"I like it. It's actually a lot of fun!" Lis replied.

"Glad to hear it. We should go over to the Labyrinth. I'll have to help you more there, though."

"Let's do it."

* * *

"What are the odds he shows up for the next fight?" Argo asked Egiru, finding him just leaving an inn.

"High." Was the short reply.

"That's not what I thought after meeting him this morning."

"It was just him being him. I kind of understand where he's coming from, but it is dangerous. Groups are generally safer, as you and I both know."

"Think he has a suicide complex? You and me, we both got people to back to. Maybe he doesn't. Maybe he doesn't mind dying here."

"He's pretty young, certainly he has a sister or mother at least that still takes care of him. I don't think it's a suicide complex. I just really think it's a young person not wanting to burden people, or have people worry about him. It's probably killing him that his family is worried, and there's nothing he can do."

"We should stop caring."

"Maybe we should. Did you find anything about that man who showed up at the meeting? Cliff? I think his name was?"

"Heathcliff. And no, I didn't. I couldn't dig up anything. No one has really heard of him. It's like his appearance at the meeting was the first time he had shown himself."

"Strange. But he looked like he could fight, and that's what's important."

"Oh, and a new guild has emerged to take part in Clearing. Part of the Assault Team of course. They call themselves the "Aincrad Liberation Squad", and their ranks are growing rapidly. They take all they can get, train the worst to a mediocre degree, supply mass scale, cheaply made armor and weapons, and are itching to fight. Our old buddy Kibaou is their leader. Of course, no _Keikens_ allowed."

"Well, hopefully it works out for him. And hopefully, the people from ALS that come to fight can hold their own."

"I'll continue to gather information. Good luck clearing today,"

"Thanks. See you later." And the two parted their separate ways.


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: Welp, I'm back. Ideally, I'd have been close to actually finishing Aincrad at this point in time. Unfortunately, situations in my life caused me to be unable to write as much as I would like. That was a sentence. Anyway, the story hasn't been completely absent from my mind this whole time. To those that DM'd me on FanFic asking where I was, I appreciate you reaching out, I replied as quaintly as possible. To the new readers still discovering and following/favoriting still, thank you, hope you enjoy what's to come. To readers that will return, welcome back! I appreciate all of the continued support this community has given me, and of course hope readers continue to enjoy this chapter as well as what's to come.

About the story its self and its future, I hope to finish Aincrad by the end of this year. I have rough plans for how I want the story to go past Aincrad, and past what would be the equivalent of Fairy Dance, but it is all mere concepts. Detail and focus is of course on the task at hand of Aincrad. I debated this idea with my self, as to whether or not I should fully be open with why I have such a large time scale laid out for an estimated completion date. At the time of writing this note, I'm still not sure whether or not to fully say it or not. It's not a massive deal, but is something I'd like readers to get the idea of by themselves, and hopefully understand. I suppose the best bit to give would best be phrased as "The anime adaptation and even Progressive is gratuitous with its time progression." The second half of the idea, the why, is still to be left something to be figured out. I hope that didn't come off as condescending in anyway. Not trying to insult the reader's intelligence in anyway. I just wanted to offer more clarity into what is a key theme and idea in the story thus far. Ok, this stream of consciousness has gone on too long. Please enjoy Recompiled's return!

Chapter 13: The Burning of Anger

 _9th December, 2022. Aincrad, Floor 2,Labyrinth Boss Room. 2:00 PM, Aincrad Standard Time_

"This is it." Egiru stood in front of the boss room doors, and turned to face the clearing party. "Remember what we'll find in there. The guide will should be sufficient, but be on the lookout for minor details like weapon changes."

"RIGHT!" Came the echoing reply and cheer from the crowd.

"Kibaou, you take battle command on this one. Good luck." Egiru passed the metaphorical torch.

Kibaou had brought his _Aincrad Liberation Squad_ to full effect. This clearing group was fairly crowded. Three full squads, A-C, comprised of the _Dragon Knights Brigade_ , a newly formed guild led by Lind, a charismatic fellow. Squads D-F were comprised of the _Aincrad Liberation Squad_. Although both guilds were new, a sense of competition was already brewing between them, as both aimed to be the forefront military force for players. Squad G comprised of a small guild called _The Deltas_. From what Kirito understood, they were primarily traders and craftsman, but more power to them if they wanted to fight. Finally, Squad H, best described as an "auxiliary" squad, comprised of Kirito, Asuna, Klein, Lis (who had a lovely reunion with Kirito upon forming), Heathcliff, and of course, Egiru. Kibaou pushed the doors to the boss room open.

A strong force of wind rushed out of the boss room. Torch sconces of yellow flame lining the room lit up, illuminating a golden, grassy field inside the room. At the end of the room, stood a tree providing shade for a creature sleeping underneath. Hearing the doors open, the creature awoke and turned its attention to the players. A massive red minotaur like creature stood in front of the Assault Team, and drew a massive Greathammer. The player's HUD populated with 5 HP bars and the text _**Baran the General Taurus**_.

"GO!" Commanded Kibaou as he and Assault Team charged forward.

The tanks in the front of the battle were having a hard time keeping the boss's attention on them, even when they did, Baran's attacks would have some sort of splash over effect, resulting in the primary damage dealers receiving points of damage as well. The battle raged on. Baran seemed completely unphased by the attacks being dealt to him. He was armorless, but his thick hide provided more than enough resistance. After 10 minutes, his first health bar was only at a little less than half.

"This isn't good!" shouted Egiru before leaping up for an attack on Baran's arms. After returning from a series of attacks, Kirito noticed that his, Asuna's and Klein's attacks were having almost no effect. But Egiru's and Lis's…..

Upon landing Kirito called over to Egiru. "Only heavy attacks are having any sort of effect. The rest are almost meaningless."

Kibaou caught wind of this. "All heavy weapon users, Maces, Hammers, Greatswords, even Plate Shields and Door Shields, advance to the front! The rest of you, get back!" He barked. The Assault Team complied. Kirito saw Asuna and Klein retreat with him, but saw Lis, Egiru and Heathcliff charge forward.

"Wait, Lis!" Kirito shouted. "Come back!"

"Why should she? She's a mace user." Klein asked.

"That may be so, but she's wearing lighter armor by comparison to everyone else with those weapons. She won't be able sustain the splash damage that even the primary damage dealers will. She relies on her buckler to parry, but the splash damage will carry over."

"God, you're right. Lis get back now!" Echoed Klein. Lis heard him and turned back around. In this brief moment of distraction, Lis felt the brunt of Baran's hammer against her back. "Lis! NO!" shoute Klein. He and the rest of the squad watched her body fly across the room and slam into the wall of the room. Klein rushed over to her. 1HP. She was unconscious, but still alive.

Kirito rushed to the front to Kibaou.

"What do you want? I'm a little busy here, beater." Kibaou prompted.

"The horns, get a good strike in on the horns. It will stun him."

"Egiru! Give me your heaviest strike on the horns!" Kibaou commanded.

"Got it!" Came the reply. Egiru leapt and unleashed a massive attack onto Baran's horns. The creature was stunned, and brought to his knees. Kirito charged forward and unleashed a series of attacks and strikes on the vulnerable head. Baran's HP began to steadily decrease. Shortly after, Bran regained his stance and continued the fight.

"So that's your trick, huh. NEXT UP! You there, do whatever you can against the horns!" Kibaou pointed to Heathcliff, and got a nod in response.

Kirito watched as the mass of plate armor that was Heathcliff moved with surprising speed up to the height of Baran. Lights glimmered off of Heathcliff's shield as an ability was activated, and he slammed into the horns of Baran. Once again, he was brought to his knees. Kirito, Asuna now, and the rest of the primary damage dealers all charged in and struck the vulnerable head. Through their forces combined, Baran's HP dropped to zero. His body went limp, and he dissipated into the iconic prismatic ash. Cheers erupted from the party. Kirito was greeted with the "last hit" message.

"Bah. Of course it's you again." scoffed Kibaou. "Whatever."

Egiru was walking over towards Lis and Klein before pausing. "Wait a second." He thought to himself. He turned back, facing the Assault Team now. "Everyone! Get Ready!"

A gust of wind entered the room. Extinguishing the torches, It up rooted the tree as well as the grass, revealing a stone floor underneath, like the rest of the Labyrinth. The debris was carried out of the room. The Assault Team turned their focus to the entrance of the room. A shadowy mass loomed at the entrance. The sconces were reignited, this time with flames of blue. The fire illuminated the entrance, and there standing before them was a black Minotaur that dwarfed Baran. Glowing red etchings could be seen on the body of this creature, as they bounced the light from the torches. The HUD was populated with 6 HP bars. _**Asterius the Taurus King.**_ Asterius was adorned with armor, as well as a jeweled golden crown and plated horns that sat atop of his head.

Asterius let out a bellowing scream before charging forward. The massive creature collided full force with a member of the _Dragon Knights Brigade_. The player was impaled by one of the massive horns before being charged into the wall at the other end of the room. When Asterius let up, the player's body fell, and shortly dissipated into the ash. Asterius returned to standing on two legs, drawing a platinum Greathammer three times the size of Baran's, adorned with fiery Rubys at the hilt. The players could hear a drum beat sound in the distance. Asterius let out a cry once more, and the drums got louder.

"SQUADS!" Began shouting Kibaou. "If you're at or close to full health, it's time to get busy!"

Two squads comprising of members from the _Aincrad Liberation Squad_ charged forward. Their weapons collided with Asterius, but their blows bounced off, barely even knicking his armor. Asterius retalited with a massive strike, annihilating half of a squad. Egiru gazed up at the massive creature's head. Atop of its skull was a golden crown, socketed with Rubies that seemed to glow in the light of the torches.

"Wait…" Egiru thought to himself. "You there!" Egiru shouted to a _Liberation Squad_ player. "Use your bow, I want you to hit one of the Rubys on his crown!."

"On it!"

The archer fired a few shots, one of them managing to hit a Ruby. The clearing party watched as the Ruby fell to the ground and shattered upon the floor. Shifting their eyes back to Asterius, they witnessed the markings on his right arm begin to fade.

"That's it…" Realized Kibaou. "Archers, focus the jewels on the crown! The rest of you keep him occupied the best you can!"

Kirito, Asuna, and Klein stood by, there was little they could do right now. Asterius was far too big to reach, even using their jumping skills, and their blows would do nothing. It was best to let the tanks do their jobs right now. Finally, they witnessed the final jewel of the crown fall. Asterius was noticeably weaker with every jewel destruction. Finally, as the last was destroyed, he was brought to his knees.

"Let's go!" Charged Kirito, and the three advanced.

Before they could close the distance, they saw Heathcliff leap and slam his shield into the crown of Asterius. The blow was massive enough to bring Asterius's head to the floor, knocking the crown off. The shockwave from the impact was enough to stop Kirito's and the other's advance in its tracks. Once more, Heathcliff raised his shield and charged into the snout of Asterius. Upon impact the creature groaned in pain. As soon as the slam laned, Heathcliff through his sword to the side, and leapt a great distance directly above Asterius. In mid-air, he placed his shield at his feet, and activated a kick skill, empowering his impact upon the Taurus. The wave from the impact forced everyone to shield their eyes. When the dust cleared, Heathcliff stood tall where Asterius once was, and sheathed his sword that he retrieved. The clearing party cheered. The torch sconces returned to their normal color, and the door to the next floor opened. Heathcliff stood silent and motionless, as he watched the rest of the clearing party enter _Floor 3._


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The View Below

 _11th December, 2022. Aincrad, Floor 3, Tsuyaki's Inn. 11:00PM, Aincrad Standard Time_

"Kazuto….Kazuto...can you hear me? Nurse? Someone, he may be waking up!"

"Mom?" Kirito opened his eyes, he could only see white. The voices continued.

"Wait, he's moving a little bit!"

"...Sugu? What's going on?" Kirito asked, receiving no answer. "Can anyone hear me?!" Kirito raised his voice, still getting no answer.

"This is odd...nurse go check the patient in the next room." Kirito heard an unfamiliar voice command.

"Mom! Suguha! Anyone? What's happening!?" Kazuto made one last final plea. The white faded, Kirito's vision restored to the inn room only illuminated by the moonlight shining through the curtain. Staring at the ceiling, Kirito lowered his arm. He didn't remember reaching out, but it must have happened during the white.

"What the hell was that?" Kirito wondered to himself.

* * *

"One patient was killed, sir."

"Because of the anomaly?"

"Sort of. The patient's family attempted to remove the NerveGear, thinking it may have been an opportunity. It was quite the opposite."

"Damn it. Do we have any idea what that could have been?"

"Only speculations at this point. We've requested activity from the Ministry but the best guess we have so far is it was some sort of server modification."

"I thought the SAO servers were remaining untouched, in order to minimize the risk."

"Kind of. The Ministry is allowing _**RECTProgress**_ the control and maintenance of the SAO servers, under close eye of the Ministry, of course. Before medical school, I used to be quite the MMO junkie, and occasionally developers could make small changes to the game, called hotfixes, that wouldn't have a significant disruption on the servers. This to me sounds like _RECT_ made a hotfix. But we'll know for sure once the Ministry gives us the log."

"Is _RECT_ permitted to experiment any further with an escape mechanism?"

"Unfortunately no. _ARGUS_ was never able to turn over all of the source code, even when getting raided by law enforcement, it was never fully recovered. Without all of the code, _RECT_ wouldn't be able to reverse engineer an exact escape mechanism, as they don't know what intricacies the NerveGear contains."

"So they're stuck in that hellish place."

"In short, yes. At least until more experimentation is permitted. But for now, it is on hold."

"With these "hotfixes", what could be done?"

"Very minor things. Nothing major. It of course also depends what's hard coded in the game also, that can't be so easily modified."

"Did this anomaly affect every patient?"

"From what we've heard from other facilities, yes. Every patient experienced some degree of minor sensory perception, at approximately the same time. Again, the logs submitted by the Ministry will confirm. Some had stronger signs of life than others. Muscle twitches, etcetera."

"How could this affect them in game?"

"We don't know."

"Thank you for the report. Come to me as soon as we receive the log."

"Yes sir." The doctor bowed and left the office.

"Damn it Shouzou. This could have been close. I'm sorry." The man pounded his fist on his desk.

* * *

"Sir, we've completed the fix."

"Any casualties?"

"One, but it was due to external factors. We were able to time the disruption when most players were asleep or otherwise safe."

"What did they experience?"

"A lack of control and vision, from what the logs show. Several medical personnel have reported to The Ministry partial perception by victims at the time of the disruption."

"Did you submit the log? They'll want to know."

"Of course. I sent it before meeting with you."

"Excellent. That was risky but we managed to pull it off. We didn't know how the code would react to being modified. How much further do you suppose we could go?"

"Not much. We're limited to very surface level changes. The Cardinal system _ARGUS_ implemented handles all of the internal maintenance and changes based on learning. It's capable of making major changes without disruption. Certainly an amazing system...if we were to…"

"Focus!"

"Sorry sir. Any more changes will have to be made quickly. I fear we may not get another opportunity when we were able to catch all of them at safe points."

"Make it happen then."

"Yes sir."

"The pathing was fixed?"

"Yes, the outgoing connections are better routed to compensate for the servers being under our control now. Players will have less risks of data loss. Ultimately it is safer."

"Excellent. And that was the extent, correct? You didn't sneak anything else in?"

"No sir, I wouldn't dare. I only did as directed by you. I would hate to be too...ambitious to modify further or too deep."

"Good. Make a list of any more external changes you think we would successfully be able to execute, and present them to me when ready. I will direct which ones to implement form there."

"As you wish, sir."

"Thank you, Nobuyuki. You may go."

He left the room with a curt bow.

The remaining man stood up from his desk, and gazed out the window. The view of Tokyo before him as he drew back the curtain. A tear came to his eye as he clenched his fist.

"Asuna. I'm so sorry. I can't do more. Please forgive me." More tears streamed down the man's cheeks. In a brief fit of anger, the man moved to his desk and kicked over his chair. The man promptly straightened his tie, and departed. The chair still lay on the floor.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: As We Live

 _12th December 2022. Aincrad, Floor 3, Krasa Jungle. 3:11 PM, Aincrad Standard Time._

"Here it is." Kirito stated, opening his inventory to pull out the hide of a salamander. He placed it on the bamboo table before him.

"Excellent, excellent." An old man with a white beard yet shaved head on the other side of the table responded. "You seem to have made it out alright."

Kirito looked down and examined his shirtless body. Several gashes and scrapes adorned him. They hadn't healed in the past hours, due to not having any stat boosting gear equipped. He was at the mercy of the base regeneration system. One that was almost too realistic. Even the default gear SAO provided to the players greatly increased the the regeneration, regardless of type.

"The quest reward? I've met the requirements." Kirito demanded.

"I have no choice of course. I should inspect the quality of the kill…"

"Go ahead."

The old man picked up the hide, and looked it over. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally set the hide back down upon the table.

"This kill is most excellent. There are no damages done to the hide, and the cut is completely clean. No other adventurer has brought back such a pristine kill."

"Thanks for the ego boost. Now about the reward…" Kirito pressed.

"Such a hurry, boy. Here." The man materialized a bluish, almost fully transparent rhombohedron with a glowing gold orb of what could best be described as "energy" inscribed in the center. Portabalized objects took this form when being transferred. It was a way of keeping transfers anonymous, as you never had to materialize the actual object in the world to transfer it. The man handed the object to Kirito. Kirito crushed it in his hand. A message popped up in front of him.

" _ **New Skill Acquired: Tracking"**_

Kirito checked his newly updated skills menu. It was already levelled to 100, the max level for skills. "Was this some kind of bug?" He wondered to himself. Most skills even when given as a reward started at a base level of 1. To receive a skill already levelled at 100 was unheard of.

"Thanks." Kirito walked out of the hut. A few hundred meters away, he decided to try out his new skill. Upon activation, Kirito's vision completely changed. The trees went dark, but the birds and other inhabitants of the jungle became glowing and bright to their silhouettes. He looked down and saw footprints leading to and from all around him. He crouched down and touched an imprint of a footprint. Immediately the rest of the footprints disappeared, only the specific remained. All of the other inhabitants were no longer glowing now, as his vision had changed to a very green tint, but he could make out his environment now. In the distance, he could see a single glowing object. The footprints seemed to lead to the object. Kirito deactivated the skill, and his vision returned to normal.

* * *

"Oy, what happened to you?"

That tiny voice was all too familiar to Kirito, as a tiny hooded figure strolled up next to him.

"Hi Argo."

"You still haven't answered….."

"Answer is gonna cost you."

"That's no fair!" Argo whined and put on a pouty face stopping Kirito in his tracks.

"Don't like your own medicine?"

"What do you have that warrants some Cor?"

"A quest. I don't know how useful it'll be."

"Ohhhhh, tell me more!" Argo's voice excitedly chirped up.

"Got a skill out of it. You just have to spend a day in the wilds of the jungle outside of town. Almost gearless. Oh, and there's a pretty strong creature to kill."

"How deep? I thought the teams delved pretty far into the jungle when getting to the labyrinth?"

The player's lives got easier on _Floor 3_ , as they could now find the labyrinths consistently based on the giant landmark found in the landscape of _Aincrad_. The massive iron and stone pillar that connected each floor. Since _Floor 2,_ the labyrinth could be found at the base of said pillars. It's inner machinations, however, were still quite a maze. At least they started to lead directionally "up" towards the boss room.

"They did. This is past the swamp towards the East border of the floor."

"What were you doing so far out?"

"I noticed the further I got away, the stronger the creatures became. I made even past the swamp, and came across a hut with the quest."

"You of course have the hard info?"

"Yeah." Kirito copied the data for his portions of filled out map and made it a transferable object, holding it out for Argo to take. _Floor 3_ had been less generous with the map, having only the immediate area around town prefilled. The jungle was mostly unknown upon first discovery.

"Thanks." Argo took the data and traded a coin purse to Kirito. 15000 Cor.

"Bye boy." And Argo darted off.

 _12th December 2022. Aincrad, Floor 3,Crane's Feather Inn. 7:00 PM, Aincrad Standard Time._

"You plan on going tomorrow, don't you?" Lis said in a mildly raised voice to Klein.

Lis slinked further down in the bathtub. Her muscles still felt so sore from the blow she suffered when fighting _Baran_ on the previous floor. Past the fight she had spent one day unconscious, before waking up and discovering _Floor 3_ for herself. Klein had been nice enough to transport her to _Urbus's_ medical facility. The medical technology of Aincrad was about what one would expect from a fantasy RPG, minus magic, and the medical system was at least advanced enough to simulate injury induced medical conditions, like comas.

She had spent the time since waking up recovering, mostly strolling around town and enjoying the humidity of _Floor 3_ with Klein _._ The humidity reminded her of her home in Sapporo. Every night, she was sure to ease her muscles with the warm waters of the inn. A luxurious feeling she had also missed from home. The feeling of water was a little bit strange in Aincrad. No one could quite put their fingers on it, but the feeling that was simulated just felt a little "off" from the real world. Nonetheless, it was still soothing to Lis.

"I'm not sure." Klein replied from the otherside of the bathroom door.

Doors in Aincrad had a muting effect, so nothing could be heard past them in the room they lead to, and nothing could be heard from inside the room on the outside, unless the owner of the door adjusted the settings of ownership. Because Lis had rented the inn room, she had temporary ownership of the door, and modified the bathroom's door properties so her and Klein could talk as she soaked. Klein sat on the ground, next to the door and leaned up against the wall.

"Why aren't you sure?"

"Because of you."

Lis was taken back at the reply, and began to blush.

"Why because of me?"

"Because of what happened to you. You woke up not too long ago, and you're still recovering. I want to make sure nothing else happens to you. Besides, I haven't been grinding levels or gear on this floor. I'll be a bit behind what everyone else will have. I would hate to be dead weight."

"Oh, Klein...I...I don't -"

"Lis. I can't leave you."

Lis's face was flush red now. She sat up more to try and cool down a bit. She was so glad Klein couldn't see her expression.

"Then don't. Go fight tomorrow and survive."

"Lis, I'm _scared_ I'll leave you. Lisbeth..Rika…I think I love you."

Lis gasped, and shuffled in the bathtub a bit. This seemed kind of sudden to her, but she thought back through her time with Klein. The elation she felt when he returned to her after his battle in _Floor 1,_ the comfort and security she felt lying next to him that moonlit night. The care he had provided to her since the start of Aincrad. Even outside of the game, Klein working at the cafe and her stopping in almost every day, the laughs and giggles they shared as he was making her drink.

"Wait!" Lis suddenly thought. "How old exactly is he!?"

Lis had always thought Klein had been older than her, at least that was the impression she got when seeing him work at the cafe. But, it wasn't uncommon for high schoolers where she was from to have jobs also. His in game appearance, of course matching his real appearance didn't reveal anything either. He had hints of stubble, and even occasionally a little bit of a beard in the real world, but the minimal amounts of facial hair wasn't exactly uncommon for upperclassmen to have at her school.

"Oh well." She sighed and thought back to all the memories and her feelings. She loved him too, come to think of it.

She got out of the tub and wrapped a towel around herself, then taking a smaller towel and wrapping her hair up in it as well.

"Lis?" Klein pressed, he had yet to receive a response.

Lis opened the bathroom door, startling Klein. He turned to look, and was even more surprised by the sight of her. She smiled and rushed forward, wrapping her arms over his shoulders and kissed him. Klein matched her embrace, wrapping his arms around her and reciprocating her affection. Lis pulled her head away briefly, smiling.

"I think I love you too."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Your Reality

 _13th December 2022. Aincrad, Floor 3, Crane's Feather Inn. 06:57 AM, Aincrad Standard Time._

Lis barely awoke as the first rays of dawn shone through the curtain. The room becoming gradually illuminated. She turned over. Her bed was empty besides her. The spot where Klein had once been had become cold.

"I love you." She muttered to herself, turning back over.

 _13th December 2022. Aincrad, Floor 3,Labyrinth. 10:00 PM, Aincrad Standard Time._

"Here we are once again." Egiru turned around to face the clearing party, standing at the doors of the boss room. The door was a very rough stone with vines over growthing it.

"Now, I know we've all had a long day. But I'm asking you all for one final fight today. Remember why we fight. Remember why we must fight on. Remember who you are. And most importantly, remember who you love! Who you fight for!" Egiru's "speech" was met with cheers from the rest of the party.

The clearing party comprised of the same groups that cleared _Floor 2_ , however Lis and Kirito were noticeably absent.

Egiru pushed open the doors. In true Aincrad fashion, the torch sconces illuminated the boss room, revealing a seemingly endless stretch of rainforest and jungle that matched the rest of Floor 3.

"Keep your eyes open!" Kibaou shouted. "The boss could come from anywhere!"

Argo scurried up to Egiru, grabbing his attention.

"This wasn't in the beta. What the hell is this?" Argo commented to Egiru. Heathcliff walking behind them raised a brow at the comment.

"Sir, did you just hear that?" A _Liberation_ squad member asked Kibaou.

"No, what was it?"

"It sounded like a growl. Well kind of. Have you ever seen the old American movie _Predator?_ "

"Can't say that I have, no. What are you on about?"

"Well sir, let's just say there's a scene that looks a lot like this."

"And?"

"A lot of people die."

"Well, what if a lot of people didn't die?"

"Then it'd just be a bunch of soldiers wandering in the jungle."

"I kind of like that scene better." Kibaou concluded, and the clearers continued to trudge through the jungle.

After what seemed like an hour of wandering aimlessly, a _Dragon Knight's Brigade_ member had enough.

"Gah! I can't stand this anymore! I didn't come here to wander through some jungle. I didn't even come here to get trapped. I just wanted to play a game, damn it! I'm already sick of th-"

Before the member could finish, the leaves of a tree moved as if a strong wind moved through the jungle, but the surrounding vegetation remained still. The room became deathly silent.

The silence was broken by the screams of the _DKB_ member. Massive steel claws had impaled him, and the party turned their gazes to the boss who had finally revealed himself.

 _ **Dubhe, Master of the Hunt**_

The boss's name and health bars populated the HUDs of the players.

"Don't let it get away!" Lind commanded, charging forward.

Sensing danger the creature released his victim and ran back into the brush. The fallen _DKB_ member drew his final breath before dissipating into the reflective ash. Lind angrily threw his sword into the brush after Dubhe, managing to collide with the creature. A clank could be heard, as his hammer bounced off of the creature's breastplate. Dubhe returned to the clearing, to face his foes head on. The clearing party was met with the sight of an 8 foot tall humanoid creature, that had features of a bear. It's chest, calves, and forearms were adorned with thin steel plates, the un armored areas revealed fur. On his hands he had affixed steel claws to his knuckles to use as an additional weapon. He drew his skinning dagger, ready to fight.

Dubhe leapt into the air, and landed directly in front of a _Liberation Squad_ member. Dubhe quickly dueled the player, clashing his dagger with the katana of the player. Every time the player would try and draw range, Dubhe would instantly close the gap. After a brief fight Dubhe found his opening and struck. Thrusting his left arm forward, the claws gashed an open area of the player's armor. The wound didn't look mortal, but he fell to the ground. The player looked at his health bar. A yellow lighting icon replaced where the "HP" label was, representing he had been paralyzed. Try as he did, the player could not move, and his HP was slowly draining due to the wound. Dubhe leapt again, landing in front of another party member as if to challenge them.

As this new fight was progressing, many players tried to get a strike in while Dubhe could have been distracted, yet he masterfully dodged every attempt. He seemed omnipotent, expertly isolating his pray.

Argo ran over to the wounded player, force feeding him a potion. The potion counteracted the paralysis, but he was still bleeding. Argo used her dagger to cut off her hood, and tied the piece of cloth around the wounded area, creating a makeshift bandage. The player's HP stopped dropping.

"You'll be alright." Argo smiled at the wounded player and winked, before scurrying off towards Egiru.

Having not made a quick enough decisive strike on his latest victim, Dubhe leapt to another prey, settling on Lind. Having retrieved his hammer, Lind decided to take the offense to Dubhe, trying to chain together his momentum based swings into a flow and perhaps land a strike onto Dubhe. Lind almost succeeded, managing to land a blow onto the metallic claws, knocking them off of Dubhe's left arm. They flew across the landscape, landing in the brush. This angered Dubhe, who let out a cry and retaliated. No one had ever seen anything strike so fast. Lind could almost keep up, before misstepping. A disgusting noise could be heard as Dubhe's dagger pierced Lind's abdomen in the gap between his chest plate and belt. Lind let out a deathly scream of pain as Dubhe twisted the dagger before pulling it out. Dubhe looked into his preys eyes with a vicious smile, as Lind fell to the ground, the same paralysis icon appearing on his HUD as the _Liberation Squad_ player had. Lind simply lay there helpless. The pain was almost unbearable to him, but he could not groan or scream due to the paralysis having set in. His HP was rapidly dropping due to the bleeding wound. He saw Dubhe leap off again. The severity of the wound only seemed to increase, as Lind noticed his HP decrease more and more rapidly. It was too fast. There was no helping him now. Having accepted his fate, Lind stopped fighting the pain.

"Yuuna, I'm sorry." He exhaled with his final breath before becoming ash.

Several of the _DKB_ members briefly mourned. The most they could during the heat of battle.

Dubhe had leapt back to the _Liberation Squad_ player recovering on the ground. Using all of the force he could draw, Dubhe thrust his claws into the chest of the player, penetrating his chestplate like it was paper. A scream of agony could be heard before the player disappeared into ash. Immediately Dubhe withdrew and leapt to his next victim.

"A hunter never lets wounded prey escape." Muttered Egiru, having witness Dubhe's latest act of brutality.

Dubhe settled on Asuna. Her pupils dilated with fear. Viciously, Dubhe began his series of attacks. Asuna dodged with lightning speed. She was just barely able to keep up with Dubhe. Frustrated, Dubhe's strikes became more sluggish and sloppy. In a split second, Asuna saw an opportunity and took it. She managed to land a very light blow in with her rapier, creating a minor wound in Dubhe's exposed thigh. Immediately, dubhe leapt backwards out of range of Asuna's rapier, and leapt to another victim.

Dubhe challenged Heathcliff next. As Dubhe began striking, Heathcliff stood firm, having sheathed his sword, he only defended with his shield, rapidly moving it to block Dubhe's attacks. In a slight misstep, Dubhe struck, barely missing Heathcliff as he sidestepped. Seeing this opening, Heathcliff punished him for it, slamming his shield into Dubhe's body. Dubhe was staggered back and briefly stunned. Before Dubhe could recover, he froze. Heathcliff watched steel claws penetrate through the back and through the abdomen of Dubhe. A look of shock overcame the creature's face, before falling to the ground. The players could see Dubhe's HP bars now adorned with the yellow lighting icon, indicating he had been paralyzed. Argo stood where Dubhe once had. She was motionless, catching her breath. Egiru sprinted at full speed to the body of Dubhe. In a skull splitting strike with his axe, the final hunt had ended.

 _14th December 2022. Aincrad, Floor 3,Crane's Feather Inn. 01:01 AM, Aincrad Standard Time._

Lis anxiously sat in the living area of her inn room.

"Where is he?" She constantly thought to herself. Klein had been gone a really long time. Just then, there was a knock on her door. She sprang to her feet and ran over.

She swung the door open, and saw a defeated and exhausted Klein.

"You're back!" She exclaimed, embracing him, and shutting the door immediately behind him.

Klein was silent, unable to form a sentence. Although the fighting wasn't heavy with him directly, his 'fight' response had been triggered and was "on" the whole day, from the clearing of the last of the Labyrinth to the hunt in the boss room. Minor scratches and marks adorned Klein's face and exposed body. He felt much needed comfort and warmth in Lis's arms. He finally mustered the strength and effort to put his arms around Lis. She continued her relentless embrace, keeping it up as she undid Klein's gear. First his sword, and it dropped from his belt onto the ground. Next his leather chestplate. She undid the ties at the bottom and the top around his shoulders, and it fell to the floor. She reached downward to his knee pads, loosening them before they parted and fell. Her hands worked their way back up to his forearm plates, and undid those as well. Finally her hands reached to the back of his head. She pulled the end of his headband, and it joined the pile on the floor. She finally let up, allowing Klein to speak.

"Are you alright?" She asked in an impassioned voice, and gazed into his eyes.

"I will be." Klein answered, and held Lis tighter.

He managed to step out of his shoes before she guided them to her bed. They continued to kiss until Lis finally released, and pulled away.

"I love you." She said in a quiet voice, smiling.

"I love you." Klein replied, smiling back.

Lis turned over so her back was towards Klein. Klein placed an arm over her hip and across her waist, holding her close. The side of his head rested against the pillow, the bottom of his chin resting on top her head. The two fell asleep, to live another day.

* * *

Klein awoke in a sweat. Lis was still against him, sound asleep. In the distance, Klein thought he could hear the screams of the players from earlier, but they were distant and vague. He attributed the noise to "the wind outside, probably." He laid in the bed, releasing his arm from Lis's waist and gently stroked her hair.

"This is why I fight." He thought.

He returned his arm around Lis's waist and fell back asleep.

* * *

 _14th December 2022. Aincrad, Floor 4,Kavela Town Bazaar. 11:00 AM, Aincrad Standard Time._

Kirito basked in the sun. While _Floor 3_ had been a humid rainforest and jungle type environment, _Floor 4_ was a temperate grassland. His lunch of a pork sandwich was only enhanced by the sun's gentle warmth, providing contrast to the winter air that brought a mild chill to the land. The bustlings of people, both players and NPCs walking by, partaking in barter and trade created a lively backdrop in the town. Out of nowhere Argo appeared standing next to him.

"And just where the hell were you yesterday?" She asked. Kirito detected a hint of animosity in her voice.

"Relaxing. Fishing in the swamp. Browsing some gear stores." Came the aloof reply.

" _Fishing?_ You were _Fishing?_ Meanwhile, I was getting hunted like a deer."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. Not my fault."

"You had a responsibility. The skill you acquired in the jungle...it might have saved those two players."

"I'm sorry you guys lost two. But I'm not obligated to fight every fight."

"Contractually? No such thing exists, you're right."

"So, why am I obligated?"

"Your skill. It's shame to waste it fishing. And besides, you like to fight. I'm surprised you're not out there right now, going after the thrill."

"Sorry."

"This is your reality now, Kirito. Embrace it."

"I already have."

"Then I'll see you next time."

As quickly as she appeared, she had disappeared back into the crowd.

* * *

Taking Argo's place, Asuna appeared next to Kirito.

"I'm never finishing this sandwich, am I?"

"We killed the boss yesterday. No thanks to _you_."

Asuna's tone stung with just the right amount of snark.

"I've already gotten lectured once today."

"Was it enough?"

"Yeah probably."

"Any excuse?"

"Yeah, but you won't like it. She didn't either."

" _She?_ "

"Yeah. Believe it or not, you're not the only girl that talks to me, Asuna."

"I just wanted to know who…"

"That will cost you."

"Oh, it was _her_."

"Yeah."

"Well, truth be told, I really wasn't that upset. Sometimes, you just aren't feeling it, or need a break. I just thought I would tease you a little bit. I was even going to offer you lunch, but if you're going to mean about this whole thing, then I see you've already got- "

"Are you alright?" Kirito interrupted.

"What? Oh, yes I am. Thank you." Asuna didn't expect the seemingly genuine question. She blushed a little bit.

"No. I mean I know you are physically, I can see that just fine. I mean, are _you_ alright?"

"Yes I am. I was able to calm down and sleep alright."

"I'm glad to hear it." Asuna blushed further at the warmth of the comments. Did he actually care? She couldn't quite figure it out.

"H-hey, where did you get that sandwich?"

"Over there." Kirito said as he pointed to a crimson and gold market stand just across the lane. "Here, this will make it taste better." Kirito pulled out a vial of _Au Jus_ dip and gave it to Asuna.

"Oh ok. Thank you."

"See you around." Kirito held up a hand to motion goodbye, as he walked off. Asuna saw him disappear into the crowd.

Asuna got her sandwich and returned to the seat Kirito was formerly in. She unwrapped it.

"Oh this would definitely be against my diet in the real world."

Asuna had been treated to only the finest, organic ingredients to make perfectly balanced meals in the real world, prepared by her family's chef.

She enjoyed the sandwich, before departing town for the grasslands.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: The Blood Still Flows

 _14th December 2022. Aincrad, Floor 4, Athi Inn. 09:00 PM, Aincrad Standard Time._

"I thought you said we would be alone. Who is this?" A _DKB_ knight commented walking into the tavern portion of the _Athi Inn_ in _Kavela_.

"Relax it's an NPC." Replied the second member, already taken a seat at the long table.

"And we won't be disturbed? I'd prefer to grieve with fellow guild mates in peace."

"It'll be alright, Godfree."

"As you assume, sir."

Godfree took his seat next to the other _DKB_ member. One by one, the remaining members of the _Dragon Knights Brigade_ shuffle dinto the inn, taking their respective seats. Eventually they were all filled, and had drinks in hand.

"Alright Kuradeel. You might as well start this thing. After all, you're the closest we have to a second in command. We're gathered here all pretty for you….." Godfree jested as he examined the assembled _Knights_ across the table, each adorned in the crimson and jade accented guild colors.

"As you wish, I suppose." There was a hint of contempt in Kuradeel's voice. "Gentleman, and our one lovely lady…" Kuradeel shot a glance over at Yuna, the guild's singular female member.

"Anyway" Kuradeel continued. "It's no secret as to why we're all here. I know we all grieve for our fallen leader. However, thought must be given to the continued existence of this organization. We're the closest thing Aincrad has to a skilled fighting force. If we ever hope to escape this Hell, we must continue to fight. Our spirit must never be vanquished and we…"

"God damn it, you're such an idealist." Another member interrupted.

"Excuse me?" Shot back Kuradeel.

"Yeah, you heard me. This whole "our spirit will never be conquered, we must recover our will to fight" is crap. Lind was a realist. He understood what needed to be done, he didn't have to motivate people spiritually or anything like that."

"Lind understood how to get people to fight." Replied Kuradeel. "I'm sorry for trying to push us all forward. Now if you'll let me continue…"

"Go ahead. Just try to save my soul."

"Right. No matter how you want to believe it, we need a path forward. I for one, as I'm sure you all do as well, would like to see this organization and caused continued. I'll come right out and say it. If this organization is to continue, we need a new figure head. Now I would like to go ahead and pose myself into a nomination for this position, if none are opposed."

"Tsch, what a power grab." The same _DKB_ member from before piped up. "Whatever, seems like a lot of paperwork. You want to deal with that, go ahead."

"Are we all in agreeance then?" Posed Kuradeel.

The members sat silently, exchanging glances at each other, before it was broken by Godfree.

"Now now, I can't let you have the spotlight. I would like to nominate myself for figurehead. There's no reason we can't be democratic about this."

"Very well." Kuradeel replied. "Who would prefer to see Godfree here as our head?"

The _DKB_ members made no sound, merely glancing at each other. The tension in the room rose. Whoever broke it would be severing a pulled string with a guillotine.

"I see you all appear to be at an impasse." A figure stated as he emerged from the shadows of the inn.

The _DKB_ members were greeted with sight of a towering man, clad in plate armor. A sword sheathed at his side, and a shield covering most of his back.

"And just who are you?" Pressed Kuradeel.

"Oh excuse me. You have probably seen me during the boss clears, but I don't think I've formally introduced myself to anyone of you yet. I am Heathcliff."

As the _DKB_ members got a better look, they remembered the face of the man who crushed the _Mad Bull_ with only his shield. The man who who didn't give an inch in the face of _The Hunter's_ relentless assault.

"What do you want? We are a little busy here, in case your eavesdropping didn't get that far." Kuradeel retorted.

"Alright I'll get right to it. I'm obviously guildless, so I've been fighting as an auxiliary. In other MMO's before this one, I was usually the leader of guilds. Yet, I haven't quite gotten around to it here yet. I see the perfect opportunity here. I've seen you all fight, and you're all skilled. Certainly more potential than those _ALS_...amateurs. Lind had a good eye for talent. I'd be willing to take any one of you into battle with me, under one banner."

Kuradeel saw the opportunity slipping away right before his eyes. "Do you understand how absurd what you're saying is? Like any of us would follow this stranger all of a sudden…"

"Well hell." Godfree started. "I think it's a good idea. He has past experience, and he's certainly charismatic enough…"

"You're just going to believe him? You imbecile!" Kuradeel shot.

Heathcliff couldn't help but chuckle at the fighting. He liked Kuradeel and Godfree thus far. They would make fine additions.

"I see a lot of Lind in him. And he was good enough for us." Godfree argued to Kuradeel.

"Fine, have it your way." Kuradeel surrendered.

"So, does anyone else have any objections? I think Heathcliff here makes a good offer." Godfree asked the rest of the _DKB_. They all simply nodded in silent agreeance.

"Well, it looks like you've all arrived at an answer. Welcome to the _Knights of the Blood_."

 _15th December 2022. Japan, Tokyo, Shiwa's Electronics Store. 01:00 PM, Japan Standard Time_

"Oh mom, look at this! Kazuto would love it. We should get it for him!" Suguha presented a simple mold of plastic, in simple cardboard packaging.

"What is it?" Suguha's mother asked.

"It's a holder for your phone, that attaches to a part of the handlebars on a bike. It's so that when he's out on it, he can use his GPS on his phone."

"Yes, he would definitely like it. Get it for him, he'll appreciate it when he gets back."

"How much longer do you think he'll be?"

"Well, he's certainly going to miss Christmas. But maybe not the next."

"They definitely seem to have picked up the pace of progression. I think it is a reasonable estimate. What do you think life is like in there, Sugu?"

"I think.." Sugu's expression turned to one of sorrow, coming to her realization at how she was going to answer. "I think it's one of despair."

"Why do you think that?"

"I'm sure death constantly hangs over their heads. One wrong step or action, and the game punishes you instead of letting you try again. I'm sure they all miss home also. Not knowing whether or not they'll ever see their families again. Not being sure whether or not they'll survive the next day. How could they not feel despair?"

"I think it's one of hope."

 _17th December 2022. Aincrad, Floor 4, Labyrinth. 01:00 AM, Aincrad Standard Time._

Kirito sheathed his sword after dispatching several creatures.

"Damn, no rare drops. Maybe I should call it. I've pushed pretty far in." Kirito thought to himself.

Kirito had spent the past couple of days doing virtually nothing else but clear the Labyrinth. He set up camp 100 meters from the entrance, only returning when he couldn't stave off the urges of food or sleep. He had achieved level 17, technically overleveled for the floor, but he expected nonetheless from soloing the more difficult monsters of the Labyrinth, which were meant to provide a reasonable amount of XP for groups, but not a solo player. There had been a few close calls, even just fighting the enemies in the labyrinth. Kirito noticed the difficulty increase. The mistakes he would make in combat became less and less excusable, the enemies more willing to capitalize on mistakes. Not only did the enemies have more health, but Kirito thought they were getting smarter as well. He wondered how long he could keep his solo play style before the denizens of _Aincrad_ forced him to fight in a group to survive. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps interrupted his train of thought.

The footsteps weren't just one set, but many, moving in an almost rhythmic fashion. Kirito turned his gaze down the darkened hallway. From the distance, he could just barely make out a group of humanoid figures, steadily moving their way towards him. Kirito reached back to grip his sword's handle, in case he needed to be quick on the draw. Eventually the light illuminated the details of the figures towards him. They were players. Kirito eased off of his sword, but didn't let his guard down. He could still be killed by other players, as they were out of the safe zone of the city.

The players clad in white armor stopped their march when they got to Kirito. He recognized a few faces, but couldn't put names to them. Except for one.

"Boy." The figurehead of the group, Heathcliff, acknowledged Kirito. "What are you doing here?"

"The same thing you are. Mapping, killing mobs. Trying to find the boss room." Kirito replied. "What kind of question is that?"" Kirito wondered. "What other purpose would players have to be here?" Kirito's train of thought continued.

"To think. A lone player could make it this far without help. Our long journey here was devoid of fights due to you having recently cleared everything out. They've yet to respawn yet. Who else are you with?" Heathcliff inquired.

"What does it matter to you?" Kirito replied. Even if he was with another player, Kirito would never divulge that sort of information to someone he barely knew, or was weary of. Especially in the "wilds" of _Aincrad_.

"I need to know if we can expect a fight further on. Or are you simply at your limit?" A smug smile appeared on Heathcliff's face. "Too scared to go on?" He added.

Kirito gritted his teeth before replying. "Past the point I'm standing, is unmapped territory. Knock yourself out. Although, your little battle group there is cute. You're going to need to kill a lot so you can all be powerful. In fact...there might not even be enough creatures to go around before you hit the end of the _Labyrinth_."

"Wait.." A young girl piped up from the group. "You found the boss room?"

"No." Kirito began. "As I said, past where I'm standing, is unmapped territory. I think we're close though. The creatures here were really tough. It's a shame really... you guys would have had some fun."

"I see." The girl rescinded back into the group.

Kirito and Heathcliff exchanged stone faced glances, before Heathcliff broke the tension with a smile.

"Good job, boy. We'll see what lies beyond this path. You've earned yourself some rest, I'm sure." Heathcliff stated, almost ordering Kirito to leave.

"Fine. Enjoy your midnight march."

Kirito walked off towards the entrance of the _Labyrinth_.

"Sir, if I may…" Godfree began towards Heathcliff.

"What is it?" Came the calm reply.

"He was merely a teenager. Yet you treated him almost as if he was a threat. I can assure you sir that a lone player could never take down the ranks of the former _DKB_. Not only that, you unnecessarily insulted him as a fellow player. The _DKB_ code of honor strongly forbids that and-"

"Silence!" Heathcliff firmly commanded. He quickly regained composure and continued in his calm and cold tone. "You are no longer in the _DKB_. You are a _Knight of the Blood_ now. Lind is dead, I am not. I am your leader now. You all agreed. Allow me to conduct my business as I wish. If you think that was belittlement you've never gotten a lashing in your life before. I know that boy. At least in combat. He's no stranger to this world. Mind yourself, Godfree."

"Apologies, sir."

"Good. Let us continue."

* * *

Kirito reached his encampment after a hike out of the _Labyrinth_. A part of his mind resented that he gave Heathcliff the satisfaction of walking out almost as if he had been commanded, when it was mere coincidence he was going to leave anyway. Kirito unequipped his armor and gear, laying down in his sleeping bag, facing upwards towards the stars. He couldn't recognize any constellations from home. Indeed, the starfield of _Aincrad_ was alien to him. Nevertheless, the sight was beautiful. Although all he should be able to see is the bottom of _Floor 5_ , _Aincrad_ chose to display the stars above. Perhaps to simulate and reinforce the concept of each floor being its own entity. Kirito had never noticed the stars of this world before. And he was kicking himself for not having earlier.

The almost perfect black sky was dotted by the lights of the heavens, twinkling and subtly dancing before his eyes.

* * *

"Kazuto! Look! Look!" Suguha nearly forcer her brother's head to look at the sight above them. They were on the second story deck of their home in Tokyo. A blackout had hit the city, darkening the night and exposing the beauty held in the great black above.

"Wow!" Kirito could only reply. He had never seen the stars like this from his home before. Occasionally when he was out late fishing with his grandfather, they would gaze up in between reels, and admire. These times had to come to an end, with his grandfather's passing.

The site was all too foreign to Suguha, who had never left on fishing or camping expeditions with her brother and grandfather. A new world was revealed before Suguha's eyes.

"Annndddd….what's that one?" Suguha pointed to a seemingly random star, but her big brother knew.

"That one is….Polaris."

"It's so shiny!" Commented Suguha.

This trend continued as Suguha laid next to her big brother, their eyes both affixed on the revealed sky. Suguha would point at a "pretty light" as her nine year old vocabulary described them, and her brother only a year her senior would know so much.

"Big brother?" Suguha lovingly called out to her brother.

Their relationship was warm. Suguha cared for her brother, and genuinely enjoyed spending time with him. He was the same towards her.

"Yeah?"

"How do you know so much?"

"Grandpa taught me. He knew a lot."

"Do you miss him?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry big brother." Suguha's expression turned to a frown. She didn't mean to make her big brother sad.

"It's alright." Kirito said with a smile, turning towards her. "Don't worry about it."

Eventually their fun ended when the city lights returned drowned out those of the heavens.

* * *

 _17th December 2022. Aincrad, Floor 4, Kavela Bazaar. 10:00 AM, Aincrad Standard Time._

"We….I should say he...Maybe them?..."

"What is it?" Egiru cut Argo's train of thought. Whatever information she had, he wanted to hear it."

"Either way, boss has been found. The white knights pushed and found it very early this morning. They're already organizing the boss full clear for later this afternoon."

Egiru couldn't help but chuckle at the term Argo used to describe the newly formed _KoB_. It fit them in more ways than one.

"Already organizing? Oh my god. How many people have they gotten together?"

"Well, Kibaou got off his horse long enough to agree to bring the _ALS_ to the fight. We're noticeably missing one of the squads formed by a smaller guild."

"Concerning. What about our little auxiliary?"

Egiru felt a sort of special sentiment or bond shared between himself and the other squadmates like Kirito, Asuna, and Klein that joined him as auxiliaries. Guildless, but still devoted to the good fight.

"Some just march to the beat of their own boots." Egiru once expressed this sentiment towards Argo on _Floor 2_.

She giggled a bit, before replying "That's not how marching works." Her giggles evolving into full laughter.

"The girl, both of them actually, will be there. I talked to her...partner and he will be also."

"How about Mister Swordsman?"

"Dunno. He's been MIA from town the past couple of days. I don't know if he knows or not. I'd imagine he may. Somehow, he gets his hands on quite a bit of info without my help."

"Think he's giving business to one of your competitors?"

"Heh, he wouldn't dare."

"Well, he could only help. Hopefully he will show. I wouldn't mind seeing him again."


	18. Chapter 18

Author's Note: **_My Commitment to you:_** Hey guys, Inferius the author here. It has been a while (about a month) since this story has been updated. I feel like I need to explain a few things. This story is far from dead. I have lots of ideas for character original stories to tell throughout that I still want to tell. Before the summer, the story was on a bit of extended break. And now we're coming off a much shorter one, but a rather large one nonetheless. During this past month as the story has been on break, I have moved twice, so the time just simply wasn't there. But my time and schedule has settled down that I can make the following commitment to you, the reader:

A new chapter will be posted at minimum once per week, and a maximum of once every two days, with potential 2 week breaks at the end of major arcs. Yes, this story has a planned arc schedule now!

That is my commitment/goal I have made to you the reader. I will consider breaking it if I feel/get feedback that the quality of the content has been reduced due to the more frequent nature of the chapters.

Enjoy Chapter 18, it is underneath a FAQ that I think you may find useful/will clarify a few things. Thanks!

Minor FAQ: Q: "Will we really be going through EVERY SINGLE DAY of the characters?" A: No, although it sure seems like it at first. The foundation of a "game" like _SAO_ is important. I feel that in a lot of the early days of the game, relationships and social structures were established that had long term ramifications on the ultimate result of the game, and of course the subsequent stories afterward. Full disclosure, there will be a time-skip at the end of the first arc, which is close to concluding.

Q: "This almost seems like a copy and paste, like you're putting into words what happens in the show, and what about _Progressive?"_

A: This is actually the thing I'm most scared of when writing. The theme of _Recompiled_ is that it is altered from the final result. And certainly there are similarities, just like any other fic may borrow events and stories that happened in the original work to move its story forward as well. But already, so much has changed or has been altered, from my view. Lis and Klein's thing certainly isn't in the anime, and I have yet to find it in any volume of _Progressive_. Some of the events between Asuna and Kirito have been original. If a part is written in that matches what happened canonically, it is either to provide an event that was able to push the story forward, or help provide better context as to where abouts the story is so far in the scheme of things.

Q: "Do you understand what recompiled actually means?"

A: Yes, and that was almost the direct inspiration for this story. I was doing an assignment in a software engineering course and went to compile my code. It compiled fine but the expected output was different. I didn't alter my code, but decided to compile it again (i.e recompiled) and the expected output matched my output now. Strange right? Still not sure why that happened, I just chalk it up to a glitch. But I figured what if _SAO,_ because at the core _SAO_ is a game in a lot of ways, had a similar thing happen? Where after recompiling the code for _SAO_ , the output was different? Here we are.

Q: "Oh god, you're time skipping? I hated that part of the anime/LNs/Manga/favorite form of media. Didn't you say you would try and avoid that?"

A: Can't please everyone, but I can sure try. I previously mentioned there will be a time skip. There will probably be a few. The problem I see/see a lot of other people have is that the time skips felt like they glanced over too much, and not insignificant events happened between these. The time skips are to a degree necessary, and I certainly won't put one if it didn't make sense/glossed over too much events. Don't worry.

Q: "How many arcs will there be?"

A: Honestly not sure. I only have ideas as to when it would logically make sense to conclude an arc.

Q: "Do you ever plan to up the violence/sex/language?"

A: The rating of the story is currently around T, so language/violence/sex is appropriate for the rating's parameters as prescribed by . If when writing it makes sense that characters are cursing more, or more gruesome things are happening, or more "loving" things are happening, then the rating will be changed to reflect that. And no, this was not me saying there will eventually be a very detailed chapter of Asuna and Kirito in their cabin doing what newlyweds will do.

Q:"How far did you want to be by now?"

A: Further. Can't pin an exact date, I would just like to have been further by this point.

Q:"How far into the story do you plan to go?"

A: All the way.

Q:"Do you pander towards your own biases of characters? Or maybe some of your followers have messaged you with what they want to see? It seems like you like Klein/Lis/buy into that ship."

A: No. While I am always open to ideas of stories for characters from people reading the story, I haven't been influenced by readers to follow a particular character more closely. Nor have I injected my own biases of characters into it (at least, not from what I can tell).

Q:"How long will this QA go on?"

A: It's over now. If you have more questions, feel free to message me here. Thank you so much for reading.

Chapter 18: Grieve

 _17th December 2022. Tokyo, Japan, Kirigaya Residence. 04:00 PM, Japanese Standard Time._

Suguha's phone _dinged_ with a notification. She glanced up from her book to see the notification light's color. It blinked white, indicating an email. At one point not so long ago, she would get a surge of anxiety about getting an email. Her inbox had been dominated by the reports of _SAO._ In a moment of wisdom or hopelessness, she wasn't quite sure yet, she requested to stop receiving the periodic updates, figuring the hospital Kazuto was in would be the first to notify her of his defeat.

After switching on the screen, she was surprised. It was from the Ministry, but it wasn't a read the contents, and it turned out to be a "summons" of sort. The Ministry was requesting her and her mother's presence for a "discussion", as the email put it, in possibly the most none official location she could think of. A cafe. At the end, the message requested correspondence as to whether or not either one of them would be present for noon meeting time tomorrow.

She relegated to talk to her mom about it when she got home. Suguha also wondered if her mother had received the email as well.

Suguha got up from her chair and stretched. Realizing the time, she grabbed her coat and slipped on her long socks and shoes. She walked out to her bike figuring she would go visit Kazuto, she departed for the hospital.

* * *

Suguha locked her bike to a post at the front of the hospital. She took out a wallet from her purse, and withdrew her identification card. The Ministry had issued the families of the " _SAO_ Incident" special ID cards that indicated who they were, and quickly at a glance let the hospital receptionists know who they were, and what their purpose was there, saving them the trouble of having to verify people. She walked in through the automatic sliding doors, and just simply flashed the card to the lady at the front desk. Suguha went to the elevator and ascended to the third floor. She walked down the hallway about mid way, where Kazuto's room was located.

The same sight as normal greeted her. Kazuto's motionless body lay on the bed, clothed in the hospital rooms and adorned with the _NerveGear_. The three lights on the front left of the device remained their solid green color. _PWR, WAN,_ and _BTT_. There were sakura flowers on their cut branches sitting in a vase on his bedside table, they looked freshly set, as the petals showed no signs of wilting. The lights were dim, just barley on, and the blinds were shut. The room was also silent, save for the heart monitor and them soft hum of the air conditioning.

Suguha pulled a chair over from one side of the room, and sat next to the empty side of his bed, taking his hand in hers.

"Hey Kazuto, how are you today?" She asked the silence, almost expecting a reply, even though she knew one wouldn't come.

After asking a few other of futile questions, she finally got an answer. Kazuto's breathing and heart rate increased, almost instantaneously. A panicked look overcame her face. Did she do something wrong? She shot up from her chair and hit the call button near the exit of the room. About thirty seconds later, a nurse and a doctor bolted into the room, and asked Suguha what happened, and if she had called for attention.

"I was just sitting here with him, and…" She pointed over to the monitors by his bedside. The doctor visibly calmed down, and did basic manual vital checks on Kazuto, and then simply nodded over to the nurse.

"Oh, dear, it's kind of normal. You must have just caught him as he was doing something strenuous in the game. All of his signs are in acceptable zones. We've observed this sort of thing with other victims as well. Here, let me show you something. Take a walk with me?" The nurse offered.

Suguha agreed and followed the nurse back to the elevator. The doctor left Kazuto's room at the same time, but went the opposite direction down the hallway. The nurse took Suguha to the top floor of the hospital, and at the end of the fina; wing's hallway, was a room locked off by an ID scanner. The nurse scanned her nametag and the door unlocked. Pushing open the door revealed a room with monitors from wall to wall. Each monitor had the vital signs of the _SAO_ patients on display. They were constantly being monitored by rotating shifts of techs. Who the current one, stood up and courteously greeted the two as they entered the room.

"This is...insane." That was the only word Suguha could use to describe it.

"This is where we keep track of everyone long term. We also do a massive amount of logging of the vitality's of the patients, that are then passed around from hospital to hospital. This tragedy is turning into quite the research study that can be used to benefit other patients in the future." The nurse tried to be an optimist towards Suguha.

"Where's Kazuto?"

"He's….this one." The nurse pointed to a monitor at the second from the top row, three from the left of center from where the tech was sitting. "We've commonly observed patients rise into the ninety to one hundred BPMs during what we have concluded is combat. When the Ministry gives us the logs and a boss has been cleared, they usually provide a date and time that the boss had been killed. We've been able to correlate that to some patients, the ones who must be doing the fighting, having elevated heart rates here in the real world, just like your brother did earlier. It's never high enough to warrant a concern. In the real world, I'd imagine sword combat would raise a heart rate even further. So this is merely a "bleed through" effect of the NerveGear is the best way our doctors have described it. We do also frequently see the heart rates go into the seventy to eighty range, so just a bit above resting. We've assumed this to be combat with generic creatures in the game."

"Your game vocabulary seems to be pretty good." That was the only thing Suguha thought to say. She was still in awe at the massive collection of data being passed around and studied.

"Oh, haha." The nurse replied. "I am a pretty avid gamer, when I have time. I actually am one of the few people who got a physical copy of _SAO_."

"Why aren't you there then?" Suguha was startled at her reply. What kind of question was that? She asked herself. "I'm sorry." Suguha immediately corrected. "I meant, what stopped you from playing it."

"Oh, don't worry about it." The nurse replied with a smile. "I knew what you meant. I had to come here for an unrelated emergency just as the servers were going live. You could say I dodged a bullet. Or parried a sword in this case. But I'm glad I was here, we needed all the hands we could get to help patients get set up for long term care here on the day of the event. "

"Thank you for all the work you've done." Suguha said sincerely.

"Oh, it's just my job."

"Are you Kazuto's primary nurse?"

"Oh yes. I handle most of his "maintenance" so to speak. Change his gown, make sure his fluids are topped off, etcetera."

"So you put the flowers next to him?"

"What? Oh yes."

"Is it like that for every patient?"

"No, not quite. I could just be crazy, but I found that Kazuto reacted well to having the flowers by his bedside."

"Reacted? What do you mean?" Suguha asked with a puzzled tone.

"On my way into work one day, I picked off some branches of the flowers. Just before the trees went bare. And I just kind of placed him by his bedside. I found that his breathing and heart rate recovers faster with those there, fake or real."

"Oh. I see." Suguha replied. She thought of the cherry blossom tree in the backyard of her family's home.

"Strange how that would work."

"Yeah it really is."

"Suguha, was it? Do you have any other questions or concerns?"

"What? Oh no ma'am. I ap[preciate everything you;ve done for Kazuto and the other patients. Thank you for the tour, so to speak."

"No problem. Here I'll walk you out."

The nurse and Suguha exited the hospital, standing by Suguha's bike.

"Have a good evening." The nurse smiled at Suguha and did a curt bow.

"Oh, you too, nurse…"

"Oh that's funny, I don't think we ever actually introduced ourselves. I'm Aki Natsuki. Or just Nurse Aki." Aki introduced herself with her warm smile that Suguha had seen so much of throughout the visit.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kirigaya Suguha. But I get the feeling you knew that."

"Oh yes, you look far too young to be Kazuto's mother."

"Thanks."

"Maybe I'll see you next time you visit. Take care!" Natsuki walked back inside, and Suguha returned to her home, but not before stopping for ramen.

 _18th December 2022. Tokyo, Japan, Kumo Cafe. 11:00 AM, Japanese Standard Time._

"I'm pretty sure this is the right place. We did go to the top floor, right?" Suguha's mom asker her. They had stepped off the elevator and followed the directional signs to a Cafe where they were "summoned".

"I'm pretty sure. The reply did say "Kumo Cafe" and we followed the directions they provided." Suguha reassured her mother.

Opening the door to the cafe, Suguha and her mother were both taken back by the "atmosphere" of the cafe. The seats were leather with golden legs and framings, accompanied by pure white cloths adorning the tables. The entire back wall of the cafe was a set of windows stretching from the floor to ceiling, providing a an unrivalled view of the urbanscape below. Shortly after they entered, a man sitting alone motioned them over to sit in the two chairs across from him. He stood up as Suguha and her mother approached.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet me here." The man began. "I am Kikuoka Seijirou with the Ministry of Internal Affairs Telecommunications Bureau, Advanced Network Division." Seijirou was dressed in a fine tailored suit, with a black tie, and square spectacles that had the effect of enlarging his dark grey eyes.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kirigaya Midori. This is my daughter, Suguha." Midori tried her best to be formal. She felt out of her element at the cafe. Suguha was silent, taking a seat next to her mother after being introduced

"Nice to meet you both. I would first like to say, my condolences for Mr. Kirigaya's unfortunate situation. I'm sure you both may have many questions. So for discussions sake, I would like you both to be as informed as possible before we continue. So please, fire away." Suguha corrected her posture before speaking.

"What exactly do you do?"

"A logical place to start, Ms. Kirigaya. The Telecommunications Bureau handles things like infrastructure for information based devices. Things like cell phone towers, telephone lines, fiber optic lines, broadband communication and the sort. My division is a highly specific one, created to investigate crimes performed on these devices. I specialize in "cyber crimes", so to speak. As video games got more and more advanced, of course so did the machines used to play them. As online games became the norm, a need arose to protect the players. At first, investigations were things like catching players who participated in predatory or "fishing" behavior, or investigating threats being made. But eventually the scope increased all the way to where we are here. My division is now almost solely tasked with handling the _SAO_ incident until it resolves."

Not expecting such an explanation, nor one that was explained so coldly or precisely, Suguha only managed a "Oh. Wow. Ok."

" _How_ exactly is your division handling the the incident?" Midori asked.

"Ah, I suppose the next logical question." Seijirou began. "Truth be told, not much. ARGUS, the original developer of the NerveGear and _SAO_ as you know went under after the incident. But a game with the scale of such as _SAO's_ requires ongoing maintenance and monitoring. So we asked another technology firm to take over the servers of _SAO._ RECT Progress. Perhaps you're familiar with them? I know you're an editor in the world of tech journalism. They helped co-develop the dive technology of the NerveGear. They've graciously accepted the responsibility to maintain _SAO,_ and of course, look for an early way out. We at the Ministry trust them wholeheartedly. So while RECT does their thing, my division handles exactly what's going on now as well as overseeing the care of the patients. And of course, looking for Kayaba." Seijirou's eyes darkened at the mention of Kayaba's name.

"Well, on behalf of our family we extend our thanks for all the work your division and RECT are doing." Midori cut off any additional thought Seijirou was going to make. "I do have to ask, however," Midori continued. "Do you have an estimate as to when you'll be able to get them out?"

Seijirou's demeanor dropped. "Miss Kirigaya. It is important for you to understand. The past month, the top minds of neurocomputing and software engineering have gathered and worked around the clock to aid RECT as well as the Ministry to try and give the players a reprieve. An escape. But external modifications to the game at that level are impossible. The most we've been able to do is migrate some server information to increase their chances, and improve their connections to RECT."

Suguha grasped her mother's arm as an angry tear welled up in Midori's eye. "Impossible? What do you mean impossible?"

"Ma'am, if you were to think of the world of _SAO_ much like our planet earth. Then there also exists a space around it. That space isn't empty. The "space" around _SAO_ is occupied by a hyper intelligent AI named " _The Cardinal_ ". If Cardinal detects any sort of tampering with its world, he will destroy it. If he detects any sort of tampering with himself that he hasn't done, he will destroy it. And…"

Midori stood up from her seat. Tears starting to flow now, with her hands flat on the table. Her gaze was straight down at the table cloth. "You're….you're saying my son. Other people's husbands, wives, fathers, brothers, sisters, daughters, and sons, are all just stuck in there. And nothing can be done?" Her voice was low.

"Mother…" Suguha attempted to calm the situation before Seijirou continued.

"And...the Ministry has ordered no further attempts at tampering or "sneaking" by the Cardinal for risk of the mass murder of the surviving players."

Midori's hands slammed the table. Other patrons of the cafe began looking their direction. She raised her head, her eyes now peering into Seijirou's. "You haven't been trying. I refuse to accept you have." Her voice raising. "It's impossible. It can be broken. Everything can be. You can't leave them in there to die. You said the NerveGear was safe. That it could do no harm. But now here we are. Thousands of people being held hostage by a device their government said was safe for use. You have to do SOMETHING! This is your fault!" Midori sat back down with her head in her hands sobbing now at the reality of Kazuto's situation.

"I'm sorry." Suguha said as she began comforting her mother. "She's been so busy with work...I think this is the first time she's been able to properly grieve."

Seijirou stood up, bowing his torso and head low at Suguha and Midori. "We...we know…" His voice began to tremble. "We know the shame our mistake has brought us. We're trying to make amends, but it's not good enough. There can be no apology for this. The Ministry doesn't deserve your trust. But please. We ask...I ask...that you understand we don't wish to unintentionally harm the victims. I do not ask for forgiveness, we do not ask, as it is undeserved, and-"

"Please, sit down." Midori looked up from her hands, composing herself. Seijirou did as instructed. "Mister Kikuoka, thank you for taking the time to meet us today. But I'm afraid there's nothing more you need to do for us at the present time."

"Miss...Miss Kirigaya" Seijirou's tone was quickened. "The Ministry will provide any compensation you want. Any accomodations you may want, for yourselves or for Kazuto, or for-"

"Please understand." Midori began. "The only compensation I want is my son back to this world. At the present, there's nothing I would ask from The Ministry."

"Miss, are you sure?"

"Yes. But, I may be in touch someday."

"As you wish."

Midori stood up and motioned for Suguha to do the same. They both did a curt bow, said their goodbye pleasantries, and departed Seijirou's table.

"I can't tell if that well or not." Seijirou thought to himself, as he watched the two exit the Cafe, his expression returning to its calm demeanor, as he awaited his next visitors.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Alot Like Christmas

 _19th December 2022. Aincrad, Floor 5, Moonlight Inn. 11:00 PM, Aincrad Standard Time._

Snow. That's all that covered the ground on Floor 5. Kirito tried to harken back to his memory of Floor 5 in the beta, figuring out whether or not Floor 5 was constantly like this or if it was some special weather to match the season. Tried as he could, he couldn't remember. He simply let his mind go blank as he sipped coffee in the warmth of the inn. The heat left the inn as a pair of people opened the door to the snowy wilderness.

"Klein, It's absolutely freezing out there."

"I know I know, here take my coat or go sit by the fire or something. Geez, we're done for the night."

Kirito saw Klein and Lis enter the inn, seeking refuge from the growing blizzard outside. He saw Lis go to the innkeeper and head upstairs, Klein's coat in hand. Klein glanced over to Kirito's direction and sat down across from him.

"Hey buddy, long time no see." Klein greeted Kirito as he sat down.

"We saw each other the other day for _Arzak's_ fight on Floor 4?" Kirito responded in a puzzled tone.

"No, I know _that_." Klein ensured. "I mean just you and me. Outside of "work" so to speak."

"Oh, yeah, long time no see."

Noticing someone had joined Kirito, a maid came to the table. Klein asked for a tea of any type. Kirito raised his cup to take a drink, Klein caught a whiff of the liquid.

"Isn't it a little bit late for coffee?"

Much like the real world, caffeinated drinks in _Aincrad_ had an energizing effect to the consumer. The illusion of being tired would ease while under the effects of the caffeine.

"Honestly, I'm just waking up." Kirito replied, taking another sip.

"You're crazy but whatever man. Any reason? Or is your schedule just that messed up?"

"A little bit of both." Kirito came face to face with the fact that he had rested a lot during the days, opting to fight and level a night solo as there were less people. Klein putting it into words made him realize how different his schedule actually was from everyone else's. He had just simply never thought about it before.

"What's the other part of both?" Klein asked the ulterior motive for Kirito still being awake.

"Something's happening later tonight. It's a risk but may be well worth it."

"You're going back out in that? Are you aware a blizzard is only getting stronger out there?"

"Yes, and it's a risk I'm going to have to take. I doubt the game calculates something like hypothermia. I'll just have to deal with the feeling."

"What are you doing that's worth all of this?"

"I got some information. Tonight at around midnight, unique spawn should happen just outside of town. The brokers haven't quite reached consensus as to what exactly it'll be, or what it'll drop. But they at least say it'll be worth it."

"And you plan to go solo on this, don't you."

"Yeah of course. I don't see anyone else volunteering to go with me. Besides, I'd hate to lead anyone on to a dead end."

"Yeah sorry buddy, I don't want to go out there again. Lis and I got a good dose of it coming back from grinding creatures, as you saw."

"I'm not forcing you."

"So uh, how ya been?"

"Fine. Yourself?"

"Fine also."

"You and Lis there seem to have a good thing going on. I wish you both well."

"Wha-oh thank you. I really appreciate that."

Kirito got up from his seat, dug out his coin purse and left payment for both his and Klein's drinks on the table.

"Maybe see you later." Kirito waved goodbye.

"Wait, Kirito!" Klein stood up and grabbed Kirito by the arm, stopping him in his tracks. "Would you like to join _Fuurinkazan_? It's my guild. Only Lis and I are in it."

Kirito was surprised by the offer. But felt honored at the same time.

"I don't know." Came Kirito's reply.

"What do you mean? It's a yes or no question. Lis is fun to hangout with, and you could teach her a lot. It'd be less of a risk for all of us if you joined and us three teamed up."

"I would hate to join and then immediately die off an hour later."

Klein was taken back by the morbid response. "Kirito, you don't have to go. Whatever the unique spawn will drop, it's probably not worth it, and is just a death trap."

"I'm not going just for the item. I'll let you know if I see you again. Take care, Klein."

Klein got the sinking feeling this would be the last time he saw Kirito, as he watched him exit the inn into the blizzard. Klein slicked back into his chair. His tea sat undrinken, as Klein's thoughts drifted off bouncing between worry and nothingness. Eventually he saw Lis come down the stairs form the second floor. Wearing fresh nightwear covered by a coat, and her hair was still damp. She sat across from Klein, taking Kirito's former seat.

"Coffee? At this hour?" She inquired.

"What? Oh that's not mine."

"Oh ok, what happened to your friend then?"

"You remember Kirito? He's off in the woods outside of town fighting a rare spawn. Anyway he was here, I saw him when we walked in and sat to talk with him."

"What?! Does he need help?" Lis immediately pressed.

"Yeah probably. But he declined help. He's bent on doing this alone."

"Do you think he'll be ok?"

"I'm not sure. If anyone could survive it'd probably be him. But at the same time, this may be a little bit much for him."

"What about the cold?"

"Well, hypothermia will be none existent, but it will still be as cold as Fuji's summit in a snowstorm."

"I see."

"Do you want to head back up to the room?"

"No not yet."

The two sat silent for a few hours awaiting Kirito's return. After a while. They figured he must've gotten a room somewhere else, and retreated back to theirs.

* * *

Kirito unequipped his overcoat, the cold bit into his bones even harder. Illusion or not, Kirito felt lighter and more mobile without it. This simple tweak meant a lot to him for combat.

"This should be the place." Kirito thought to himself. Kirito headed northwest into the pine woods outside of town, before coming to a strange circular clearing in the middle of the forest. "It's only a matter of time now." Kirito sat and patiently waited. Suddenly, he felt the ground underneath him begin to rumble. He leapt to his feet, drawing his sword.

From the snow in front of him burst an eight foot tall "Creature". It had the shape of a human, but was clad in red and gold samurai-esque armor hiding it's features. Red eyes could only be seen peering out of the mask. It's gaze met Kirito's and he drew his massive katana.

Kirito felt an immense jolt of fear as his HUD populated.

" _ **The Renegade's Champion**_

 _ **LVL 25"**_

This was the highest level creature Kirito had ever faced. The Floor bosses were often only two or three levels ahead of their floor number plus ten. Kirito being level eighteen was considered "overleveled" for the Floor, having hit the point where creatures would no longer grant Kirito any sort of meaningful experience. Kirito had thoughts of escaping, but resolved against them.

Kirito charged forward, the creature's blade meeting his head on to block the first attack. The two clashed blades attack after attack, occasionally landing hits. Eventually the two leapt away from each other. Kirito was sitting at around 50% HP, while the creature's had only been reduced to 80%. The creature's eyes turned to a golden glow now, and with greater speed then before leapt into the air, crashing down. Kirito dodged the aerial attack and upon regaining footing, resume dhis offensive, landing several solid combo blows unreciprocated by the creature. 67%. The creature's eyes shifted again, this time to an icey blue, and began striking with even more power. Kirito took the opportunities to land strikes, no matter how glancing, when he could. Misinterpreting one of the strikes, Kirito took the full brunt of one of the creatures more powerful abilities his health suddenly dropped to 20%, while the creature's health sat at a comparatively healthy 46%.

Kirito leapt as far away as he could from the creature. He wasn't liking his odds. Kirito attempted to escape, but an invisible wall used to seal in their fight stopped him. Even if help was coming, it could never reach Kirito due to the game instancing their fight. It would simply only be them.

"Alright. It's time to go." Kirito thought to himself. He turned to reface the creature. Images of his past life began to flood his mind along with a surge of adrenaline. He had never felt this kind of rush or fear before.

In one swift move, Kirito returned to combat, and the two resumed their furious exchange. He had never felt the need to be so quick and deliberate with his strikes. This creature was testing him more than any other had in Aincrad thus far. Any opening Kirito tried to take advantage of the creature reacts perfectly to attempt and counter the strike. Not only were the creature's numbers simply bigger, but it was smart as well.

"AGAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHHHHHHH!" Kirito shouted as he took advantage of the last combo opportunity he would have on the creature, mustering every ounce of strength and skill he could. At its conclusion, the creature stepped back from Kirito, and he lowered his sword. In an instant, the creature froze, and became ash.

Kirito's breathing was rapid. He sheathed his sword, and glanced at his HP bar. He could just barely make out a pixel of red at the far left end:

" _ **HP: 1/..."**_

Kirito didn't care what it said after 1. He was alive. But just barely. In front of him text appeared where he had defeated the creature.

" _ **Congratulation! Last Hit Bonus:"**_

The menu popped up in form of Kirito with his bonus item.

" _ **Champion's Blade"**_

The item was a katana matching the appearance of the creature's. Kirito also received a hefty chunk of Cor as well as several leather gear items he would put to use. Kirito suddenly felt the adrenaline leave his body. A tsunami of exhaustion crept down his body. He exhaled before falling backwards. The snow and ice was cold, and he could feel more set over him. The blizzard seemed to have calmed since the creature's demise, now a slight breeze and gentle snowfall was all that remained. Kirito's breathing began to slow, and he observed his exhales in front of him. His eyes drifted shut.

 _20th December 2022. Aincrad, Floor 5,Forest Clearing. 12:00 PM, Aincrad Standard Time._

"What….the hell? Kirito is that you? Man, wake up! Are you alright?"

Kirito's eyes slowly opened. The clear blue sky and sun shone down on him. In his view was a figure standing over him. As his vision came into focus, he made out the figure to be Egiru.

"Egiru? What Are you doing out here? This should be instanced…" Kirito groaned as he sat up.

"I would have to ask you the same. What's this about instancing now?"

"The spawn, and…"

"And falling asleep outside the safe zone of a town? You could have been killed by players strolling by if they had the intent. Especially in a blizzard also. You'll freeze to death man. Just what the hell are you doing?"

"The spawn…" That's all Kirito's groggy mind could produce for words.

"The spawn? You mean? Come to think of it...Argo might have mentioned something her and the other brokers got word of. A special event taking place last night. Supposed to drop some nice items. But I can't imagine anyone wanted to go do it. The blizzard halted all travel, even the White Knights packed it in from the Labyrinth and…"

"Egiru, the spawn. I killed it."

"You what?"

"Killed it. I beat it."

"I don't believe you."

Kirito opened up his inventory and produced the sword that dropped.

"This was the item that dropped from the last hit."

"My god… you lucky bastard. That sword is probably the strongest weapon you can have at this level. Its enhancement stats are off the charts. Do you plan to use it?"

"Truth be told, I don't think so. I don't like a Katana's attacks, and they feel too heavy. I might sell it."

"You'd make a small fortune."

"Yeah."

"You were alone?"

"Yeah. No one else trudged through the blizzard."

"How did you survive?"

"Barely. I don't think I was supposed to. I may have just got lucky. I made it out with 1 point left"

"Why did you do it?"

"I wanted to see if I could. How far I could go."

"Evidently pretty far. You do understand that you probably should have died, right? You seem pretty unfazed for someone who just came so close."

Kirito noticing the time replied: "I had a lot of time to sleep it off. This wasn't the only time I've come close. But this was efintieylu...the most intense."

"You need some more rest, Kirito. You need to relax your mental state for a bit. And I don't mena passing out in the middle of a forest.

"I feel fine. I'll probably just head over to the labyrinth. It's sort of this direction anyway. It'd be nice to clear this floor by Christmas."

"Kirito. Chill out. Go back to town. Come on, I'll even head back that way also. Let's eat. You probably worked up an appetite."

"Weren't you heading to the Labyrinth? That's the only reason you'd be walking through here."

"Yeah, but if it gets you to relax a little bit, I don't mind backtracking."

"If you insist. Let's go"

The two walked and chatted back to town.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Outclassed

 _20th December 2022. Aincrad, Floor 5, Keria Market. 01:00 PM, Aincrad Standard Time._

"Hey buddy, you're alive!" Klein and Lis happened upon Kirito and Egiru eating their lunch, and sat on the ground next to them, lunch in hand as well.

"Oh man, what are you doing here?" Egiru enthusiastically greeted Klein and Lis, extending a hand for a shake. Klein responded in Klein.

"Good afternoon everyone!" Lis cheerfully greeted.

"I guess it's a party." Kirito managed to say, in a very monotone voice.

"Oh come on man, lighten up a bit!" Egiru gave Kirito a hearty slap on the back.

"Nah, nah don't worry about it. I'm sure the man is tired after fighting all night. I know he's glad to see us." Klein defended with a smile.

"Oh yeah, Klein. I have something for you." Kirito opened up his inventory and "wrapped" the _Champion's Blade_ before passing it to Klein. With a puzzled look, Klein took the mystery object from Kirito. He unlocked the prism with a menu gesture.

" _ **Champion's Blade"**_

Klein scrolled through the stats. "Whoaaa….Kirito where did you get this? Was this the-"

"Yes, it was the bonus item. It seemed like a pretty good piece of gear. I can at least personally attest to its power."

"'A pretty good piece of gear', man this thing is sweet!"

Lis moved a curious head over Klein's shoulder, hoping to read his menu. The blade managed to draw a "Whoa…" from Lis as well.

"Egiru, you've dabbled a bit in appraisal. How good is this thing relatively speaking? We talking best for the floor or what's the deal?"

"Heh." Egiru replied. "I only know what I've picked up from the master herself, but judging as she's not here , let me take a look."

"What do you mean I'm not here?" A mousy voice piped up from behind Egiru. Argo let down her hood. "Hey everyone." Greetings were returned.

"Here, take a look at this." Egiru passed the blade to Argo.

"So I assume this is the bonus drop from the event last night? You guys are all alive, so I imagined you fared pretty well."

"Well...we didn't. He did." Klein clarified by pointing at Kirito.

"Boy, what the hell." Argo's voice had a hint of irritation. "You went out there by yourself and solo'd the event? What is wrong with you? You got a death wish?"

"I don't think so. I just wanted to see if I could do it." Kirito's reply had a hint of cockyness in it.

"Well, I know you hate lectures. The little red hood might have mentioned something about that. So all I will say is fine job, boy."

"Thanks."

"Anyway, this blade, specifically for the katana category, is by far the best I've seen. If the beta is anything to go by, it will be the best until around Floor 8, and it'll be very good until at least Floor 15. If the all of our scaling math is correct, that is."

"Awesome! Kirito you're the best man!" Klein cheered. "But wait, why wouldn't you want it? I'd imagine a player such as your self has a craving for sick gear."

"I don't like to use katanas. That's all. The skills don't really match my style, and their balance seems so off... long story short, I just prefer my weapon." Kirito answered.

"Well, I won't interrogate you further. Thanks again man."

"Don't mention it."

Suddenly, Klein's half eaten sandwich disappeared from in front of him.

"Oh-What the hell?!" Klein reached for the disappearing sandwich. "My sandwich!"

The group chuckled at Klein's reaction.

"You got so excited about your new gear, you forgot to eat. Food has durability once it's "opened", eventually it will disappear, eaten or not." Lis explained.

"Oh man...That was really tasty. I don't want to spend the money for a new one though. Oh well I guess." Klein tried to brush it off, but was noticeably bummed out. "I guess I just scarf my food so quickly I never noticed."

"I raise to the fallen sandwich!" Egiru proposed, and the others responded by raising their flasks of water in the air.

"To the sandwich!" The group cheered.

"Oh, before I forget. Kirito, about my offer. You made a decision yet?" Klein asked.

Kirito's expression took on a bit of discomfort. "Oh I uh, I don't think I'll be joining. Sorry."

Klein's expression changed to disappointment. "Oh, well it's ok man. Don't sweat it!" Klein smiled it off. "Whatever your reasons are, I'm sure they're legit."

"Please don't take it personally or anything, I just-" Kirito tried to frantically clarify after seeing Klein's expressions.

"Bro, don't worry about it." Klein reassured.

"Thanks." Kirito replied.

"Well, to lift the mood a bit. Klein, I will accept your offer to join your guild. It is an honor, my friend." Egiru stated.

"The honor is all mine!" Klein replied with a grin, before formally inviting Egiru through the game's system into his guild. "Welcome!"

"Glad to be here. Although I think little lady here has a different answer." Egiru alluded towards Argo.

"Hey hey, I can speak for myself!" Argo said, reasserting her presence. "Klein, I'm also honored, but unfortunately, it would impact business. While I would love to join, it can impact the flow of information. 'Being tied down', so to speak."

"Oh with you, I totally understand. Don't sweat it Argo."

"I hate to leave on a note of bad news but duty calls. I'll run into you guys later!" Argo scurried off, the rest waving goodbye.

"Again, welcome to the guild, Egiru." Lis said with a smile.

"Well, you guys have fun. I'm off." Kirito got up, and began to depart.

"Thanks again, Kirito!" Klein shouted as Kirito walked away.

 _21st December 2022. Aincrad, Floor 5,Boss Room. 08:00 PM, Aincrad Standard Time._

"Here we are once again." Kibaou turned and faced the crowd in front of the boss room. The normal assortment of players were all gathered, Kirito included, for yet another fight.

Kirito noticed that every time he saw Kibaou, he was decked out in more and more plate armor. You almost couldn't make out the man underneath anymore.

Egiru put his hand on Kirito's shoulder. "You ready?"

"Of course. I'd imagine this will be a cake walk compared to the other night." Kirito said, with a hint of smugness in his voice.

"Well, at least you're confident." Kirito noticed that Egiru, Klein and Lis all dyed their armor the same theme of red and gold accents. Egiru's armor which was once silver and grey now had the gold that gleamed off the soft torch light. The coloring wasn't too different for Klein and Lis, however.

Just then, Kibaou pushed open the doors to the boss room. In true _Aincrad_ fashion, torch sconces sequentially lit the room. The clearing party was greeted by the sight of a massive linear spanse. The center path was clear, but either side was adorned with a single row of snow covered pine trees. It was interesting, to say the least. At the end of the center path, a hulking figure completely covered in solid stone and plate armor stood motionless.

Almost on cue, Heathcliff and his _Knights of the Blood_ marched their two squads to the front of the party, and began traversing the path towards the boss. In sync, the _Knights_ drew their weapons. The creature still stood motionless. After the Knights had closed the distance with the rest of the party in tow. The mass of armor came alive.

A flash of light, and the creature's eye sockets illuminated red. It appeared to be a human under the armor, but no features could be made out. It drew a massive two handed axe, before stomping its feet.

" _ **Radii's Armor**_

 _ **LVL 18"**_

Heathcliff thrust his sword forward, but was silent. As if following a call to charge, two _KoB_ axemen charged forward, one of them Godfree. Matching the creature's attacks blow for below, the rest of the party eventually entered the fray. No additional creatures had spawned, so Kirito and his auxiliary squad were able to focus on the boss. The Armor's blows were massive, but predictable.

Approximately midway through the fight, the rhythm of combat saw the squads simultaneously fall back a bit, giving the boss room to breathe. Seeing an opening, the boss raised his massive axe above his head and struck the ground in front of him. A shockwave was sent forward, striking and stunning two squads of Kibaou's soldiers. The creature charged forward for a direct attack on his immobile prey. Heathcliff and two other _KoB_ players almost instantly flashed in front of the creature, shields raised, stopping the boss in his tracks. The trio simultaneously pushed forward with their shields, creating an opening. A white haired girl who also brandished the colors of a knight used the opening to get a series of lightning quick strikes in with her rapier. After finishing her combo, she relented.

"Man, they're on a whole other level." Klein turned and remarked to his squadmates.

"You can say that again. Damn, they must drill for hours." Egiru added.

"Heh, they're cute." Kirito said in an unimpressed tone.

"You're just jealous." Asuna said in a quiet voice only to Kirito right next to her.

"What? No, I just think that...never mind. We have a fight to win." Kirito thought to rebuke, but charged forward instead.

Kirito was able to time a parry just right, and deflected one of the boss's massive swings. He used the opening to get two series of combos in, finishing off with a strike that further stunned the boss. The opportunity allowed for Klein, Lis, and Asuna to land a series of strikes. Finally, Egiru managed to chime in, striking with a combo that dwindled the boss's HP down to zero.

The boss fell, falling to ash like all other slain things in _Aincrad_ did.

" _ **Congratulations!"**_

 _ **Floor 5 Cleared!"**_

Egiru's menu popped up in front of him.

" _Last Hit Bonus:_

 _ **Remnant's Axe**_ "

A two handed axe that seemed just right for egiru.

"Man, that sure suits you. Nice job man!" Klein celebrated with Egiru.

Kirito approached Asuna, standing next to her.

"See? And we don't drill for hours." Kirito quitely remarked to her, walking off before Asuna could respond.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Sky Above

 _22nd December 2022. Aincrad, Floor 6, Ashnu Inn. 08:00 AM, Aincrad Standard Time._

"The boss certainly isn't wasting any time. Man, would it have killed him to let us sleep in?" Godfree pondered to Kuradeel in their shared inn room.

"Quit your incessant whining." Came the stinging reply.

"Remind me, are we supposed to be friends?"

"I won't let you die next to me in battle, if that's what you're asking."

"Not quite, but I think I get the sentiment. C'mon, let's head down stairs."

The two made their way to a secluded meeting room off of the common area of the inn. A long table occupied the center of the room. Yuuna was already seated, along with several other _Knights_ sitting next to her. Godfree and Kuradeel sat down as well, next to their comrades.

Eventually more and more _Knights_ trickled in, until all of the seats were filled, save for one, at the head of the table. At precisely 8:10 AM, Heathcliff entered the room, and took his seat at the head.

"Good morning." Heathcliff led.

"Morning!" Came the enthused reply from the lower _Knights_.

"First off, congratulations on the clear last night. I'm happy to see none of you are dead." Heathcliff started in his usual calm tone and demeanor. Although he was congratulatory, his tone didn't match it. Despite it not wavering from his normal, Godfree and the other _Knights_ got the sense something was off.

"However. We failed as a unit to get the last hit item. This mistake cannot be allowed to happen again. We will not fall behind other organizations. We are the premier. The elite. This will not happen again."

"Yes!" Replied the assembly.

"Good. Like many of you, I am aware of days are coming up. But we do not rest. Anyone that is opposed should leave immediately."

The assembly was motionless. No one dared to stand up.

"Excellent." Heathcliff continued. "My sources have already found the location of the Labyrinth. But there is an issue."

The assembly failed to hide the look of surprise on their faces. Having found the labyrinth less than 24 hours after entering the floor was insane.

"The issue being, we are to be tested before we're granted entry. While the Labyrinth was obviously not a problem to find, we can't simply walk into it like we have previously. This floor is special, in that we have to defeat a boss before we can enter the Labyrinth."

"Another boss?" Yuuna asked. "So there are technically two on this floor?"

"In a way yes. I would reestimate your expected power level of the pre-Labyrinth boss. The world boss, if you will. I seriously doubt it will be on the same level as a floor boss. In fact, I'd gamble that it would only take our forces to bring it down."

"Do we have any idea where it might be?" Kuradeel curtly asked.

"No. Which is what our task is today. We are going to find the world boss before any other guilds do, secure the kill, and have first entry into the Labyrinth."

"Understood." The assembly replied.

"The only information there is, is that it's out there in the wilderness somewhere. We will split up into squads, and fan out into the forest and grasslands. Use extreme prejudice. No matter how minor the creature may be, exterminate it. You never know what the spawn trigger may be, if there is one."

"As you wish!" The assembly replied.

Heathcliff broke the _Knights_ into appropriately balanced squads, including himself, and the _Knights of the Blood_ departed the inn.

 _24th December 2022. Aincrad, Floor 6, Nishi Forest. 10:00 PM, Aincrad Standard Time._

"Well, here we are Lis. Merry Christmas." Klein announced as the two came to a clearing in the forest, with a clear view of the night sky.

"Whoa!" Lis gasped, as they sat down in the light snow covering the ground. They could feel the cold through their clothes, but didn't care.

Their gazes shifted upward, and they were greeted with an alien sky. The stars of _Aincrad_ looked very different then what they might have been able to see at home. They were far enough away from the main town that what little lantern light pollution there would be was negated, and the moon was dim.

While some constellations might have looked familiar to Lis, so much of it was entirely different and new.

"So, what do you think?" Klein asked, seeking some sort of approval. He had been so nervous about Lis not liking the stargazing that he got amore 'traditional' gift just in case.

"I love it, of course." Lis replied with her warm smile.

"Glad to hear it."

Lis shifted to rest her head on Klein's shoulder, he shifted his body so they could both see up at the stars.

"Hey…" Lis began. "We'll go home right? You think we can escape?"

"Of course."

"Do you want to fight the whole way there?"

"I don't know what else I would be doing. So yeah, I think I do."

"I need you to promise me something then." Lis pulled her head back, making Klein look into her light brown eyes that seemed to gleam under the starlight.

"What is it?"

"Promise me that, no matter how long it takes, we'll both return to the real world. Even if it means having to give up fighting like we are. Please, promise me that we'll both make it. That we can be with each other even in the real world."

"Lis, I would promise you the world if I could offer it. I'll make sure you make it back."

"You idiot! Not just me. But the both of us."

"Sorry, sorry. I promise, I'll make sure we make it back."

"Good."

"Now it's my turn. I have something to give you."

"What, oh no. Klein! I don't have anything." Lis replied panicked.

"It's alright. I saw this in town the other day, and thought it would be perfect." Klein produced a single earring, materializing in his hand. He offered a vivid ruby red earring with gold accents to Lis. "Lis...Rika. Merry Christmas. I love you."

"I don't know what to say. I'm sorry. I don't have anything. I guess all I can say is, I love you."

The two embraced before eventually pulling away.

"Well, let's see how it looks." Klein suggested.

Lis took the earring from Klein's hand, and affixed it to her ear. "Well?" She asked.

"It looks stunning."

"I love you, Klein. Thank you."

* * *

"Alone on Christmas, eh there?" Argo happened upon Kirito in town. "Can't say that I blame you. Everyone's gotta cope somehow."

"Hi Argo. Merry Christmas, I guess." Kirito greeted. He hadn't noticed it until now, but Argo raised a valid point with her last statement. Come to think of it, there was a general sense of sadness that had seemingly befallen the players as the day progressed. "Got anything planned?" Kirito inquired.

"Actually yes. Egiru and I are going to have a drink. Celebrate the holiday. You're welcome to join us, but I don't think you could order much in the name of alcohol. They still card here. But of course, your company is welcome. Who knows, Miss Red Hood might show up and make your night." Argo concluded with a wink.

"Thanks, but I'll pass. Enjoy your night with Egiru." Kirito declined the offer.

"Suit yourself. But what do you plan to do?"

"I dunno. I might go out and level or item grind for a bit. Or I might just wander around for a bit."

"That's no fun. But I'm not going to tell you how to spend your Christmas night. But Kirito, I wasn't just teasing. You should go find her. No lady likes to be alone on Christmas. It'll be good for the both of you. Have some fun with each other."

"Thanks for the advice. I wish you and Egiru the best tonight."

"Good night, Kirito." Argo walked off towards a tavern.

"Go find Asuna, huh?" Kirito thought to himself. He considered their relationship to be awkward, at best.

* * *

Argo sighed. "Well here I am. The great Argo. Reduced to a teenage matchmaker." She thought to herself. She noticed a familiar red hooded figure travelling the opposite direction she was. Their paths would collide. "Damn it, all I really want is a drink. Oh well."

"Hey, merry Christmas. Oh come on, don't act like you don't know me!" Argo stopped Asuna in her tracks.

Asuna giggled and lowered her hood. "Hi Argo. Merry Christmas to you also. Where are you off to?"

"I'm meeting Egiru for a drink. Or a few. How about yourself? Going somewhere fun?"

"Nope, I'm just going to find a room and probably fall asleep. Maybe have a bath and relax for a bit."

"Gah, that's boring." Argo replied. "You know, I saw a lonely looking guy just over there." Argo pointed back in the direction she had met Kirito. "Black hair, black clothes, pretty decent looking. Seemed to be your age also. It would maybe do you some good to have some fun with him. It would do the both of you good." Argo proposed with her infamous wink.

Asuna giggled a little bit at the suggestion. "Thanks for the info. How much do I owe you?"

"That little tidbit? That's free. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas. Have a good night, Argo."

"You as well, Asuna."

They both gave a curt bow to each other before going their separate ways. Asuna stopped to ponder.

"Should I go see him? We're both alone...but would he even want to be with someone? And besides that, he came off as arrogant to me last time I saw him. Does he even deserve my company?But…he's not all bad. I don't know." Asuna thought to herself. "Eh, what harm could tea do?" Asuna had internally concluded. She diverted herself toward where Argo had pointed.

* * *

Kirito finally go up from the bench he was sitting on. He had decided to just call it a night, and find a place to sleep. As he took a few steps away, he got stopped by a familiar voice.

"Where are you going?"

A hooded figure approached him, stopping him in his tracks. "Hi Asuna. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you as well. You still haven't answered my question."

"To sleep. Was going to find a place."

"Really? Not going out to level or get new equipment? That's a new one for you." Asuna teased.

"Whatever. Now my turn. What are you doing?"

"I was going to do the same thing you were. Funny coincidence, right?"

"Somehow, I doubt it's as chanceful as you think." Kirito replied, considering the Argo factor and what she had suggested earlier.

"Oh well. We're both here. How about some tea?"

"You know what, that doesn't sound too bad. There's a place this way." Kirito led on.

Asuna caught up and walked beside him.

"You going to take off that hood anytime soon? It's not that cold out."

"And risk being seen with you?" Asuna giggled as she teased him.

"Whatever." Kirito replied. Truth be told he didn't care. Deep down, he felt an indomitable joy to have a companion, no matter how brief his encounter may be.

* * *

Kirito and Asuna took the last sips of their tea.

"Ahh, that was pretty good." Asuna said.

"Yeah, definitely wasn't too bad." Kirito agreed. For being simulated, it was legitimately good.

"Hey, do you want the night to end?" Asuna asked.

"Well now, look who is being a little adventurous." Kirito jested.

"I don't mean anything like that. I mean, maybe we should do something else besides tea. The night is still early, and it is Christmas, after all."

"What did you have in mind?" Kirito's curiosity was genuinely piqued.

"Well… I don't know. I was hoping you might have a suggestion."

"Come to think of it, I think I might. How about you follow me?"

The two left the cafe and ventured out towards the clear grassland part of the _Floor's_ landscape.

* * *

"I think this is a good stopping point." Kirito stated.

"Why..are we out here?" Asuna asked. They had walked about a kilometer away from town, and were in the middle of a field.

"Look up." Kirito pointed upwards, as he shifted his head.

Much like Lis was earlier, Asuna was enthralled by the beauty of the _Aincrad_ night sky.

"It's beautiful." Asuna finally found some words. "How did you know about this?"

"Truth be told, I've never actually been to this spot. I just figured a clear area on a clear winter night, might be worth looking at."

"Well, I'm glad you thought of it." Asuna said with a smile.

Kirito sat down in a patch of grass, Asuna joined him, sitting fairly close to Kirito.

After a few minutes of silent observation, Asuna broke the silence.

"Hey, do you want to be stupid teenagers?"

"What do you mean?" Kirito shifted his gaze to look towards Asuna, who was looking at him a she asked the question.

"Come here."

Asuna pulled Kirito to her and kissed him. Kirito was shocked and understandably tense at first, but eventually relaxed into it. Asuna loosened her grip she had used to pull Kirito as the embrace continued. She didn't know why, but it felt right. They pulled away from each other.

The sky above them began to dance, as a meteor shower seemed to have started. Once more their gazes were upward, observing this new development.

As their eyes began to meet each others again, and acting on that compulsory feeling once more, Asuna leaned in for another embrace. Kirito was much more prepared, and placed his hands on the sides of Asuna's shoulders. Asuna did the same.

The two eventually pulled away.

"So, what does it feel like to be a stupid teenager?" Kirito inquired.

"Not too bad." Asuna replied. She moved and rested her head on Kirito's shoulder.

The meteor shower had concluded, but not before they had both fell asleep under the night sky.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Earth Below

 _25th December 2022. Aincrad, Floor 6,Stallion's Rest Inn. 10:00 AM, Aincrad Standard Time._

"Aw crap. Lis wake up! We'll be late!" Klein tried to shake Lis awake, closing his menu to check the time.

"Wha-? It can't be. Whatever. Five more minutes…" Lis wrapped her arm back around Klein, closing her eyes once again.

Klein sat up. "We don't have five minutes! We had to leave five minutes ago!" He gout out of the bed and hustled to equip his gear.

"Fine. Fine." Lis equipped her gear as well, and the two departed.

* * *

Klein and Lis caught up to the Labyrinth clearing party. Gathering right outside the boss room.

"Late night last night, huh you two?" Egiru saw them approach and greeted them.

"Wha- oh no it wasn't like that-" Klein began to explain, trying to hide himself blushing.

"We just had a hard time waking up this morning, is all." Lis finished Klein's explanation.

"I see. Well glad you could make it for the boss fight. The trip here was boring anyway." Egiru mentioned.

Klein looked over to the side, where he saw Kirito and Asuna standing next to each other. They were separate form the main group and even the auxiliary squad. Asuna of course had her hood up, shadowing her face. Kirito saw Klein look over and approached the auxiliary squad.

"Hey Argo, does the game simulate hangovers?" Kirito teasingly asked.

"Wouldn't know. Didn't drink enough to find out. This one over here is a light weight." She pointed to Egiru. "He was gone after two, maybe three drinks." Argo giggled.

"Hey now, that's not quite what went down. I-" Egiru tried to defend himself but was cut off by raised voices coming from the front of the clearing party.

"Like I said, we're waiting for another squad to show up from my guild. Once they get here, we can get started." Kibaou explained to Heathcliff.

"Your guild being late isn't my problem. My problem is you are delaying the _Knights_. Move aside. Some of us actually want to get started." Heathcliff rebbuttled in his normal calculating tone, but his voice still rose over the rest of the party.

"We will need all of the man power we can get. The squad leader just sent me a message. They'll be here in ten minutes. I'm sure whatever grand scheme you have can be delayed by ten minutes without an issue." Kibaou shot back.

"On the contrary. Step aside." Heathcliff demanded.

"Have it your way." Kibaou complied.

"To those who actually want to make progress, follow us." Heathcliff turned to the rest of the party before opening the doors to the boss room.

All of the gathered squads except for the _Aincrad Liberation_ members followed the _Knights_ clad in white into the boss room. It was easy to tell the missing numbers. Once they had all gathered inside the boss room. Realizing the deficit, Egiru approached Heathcliff.

"I would urge you to reconsider. Look around, we could use their numbers." Egiru plead to Heathcliff.

"I would urge you to back off and fight." Came Heathcliff's cold reply. "I assure you we will be adequate. There's always the option of being a coward and backing off while you still can."

Egiru was at a loss for words, rejoining the company of his squad.

Standing next to Kirito, Asuna clenched his hand with hers. Startled, Kirito looked down at the motion.

"This is a deathtrap." Came a hushed whisper from beneath the red hood. "We should go while we still can. I don't want to risk-"

Kirito turned to face Asuna, their hands still together. "We won't ever win without risks." He calmly replied. "I don't blame you if you want to leave. But we could really use your help out there. I would also rather have the _Knights_ in battle than those other guys."

"I would much rather have _both_." Asuna replied.

"We also still need to talk about last night…" Kirito led on. Asuna blushed under her hood. "So how about we keep each other alive, at least this one more time?" Kirito further proposed.

"Agreeable." Asuna replied, releasing her hand.

The two tried to be discreet, but weren't safe from the eye of Argo, who had noticed their little conversation. She simply winked at Kirito, who gave a subtle grin back, along with a nod of his head. Kirito turned around and drew his sword, following the suit of _Knights_ who also drew their weapons. The rest of the auxiliary squad did the same.

* * *

"Keep up the defense! We'll need to survive two more phases at least before he will fall!" Heathcliff ordered, as the clearing party repositioned themselves behind the shield bearing players, seeking shelter from the boss's area of effect attack.

" _ **Tenucian, Radii's Gladiator"**_

The boss wielded a Talwar and massive bronze shield. Despite being significantly taller, he appeared as a normal human. His armor thematically match that of a Roman gladiator combined with elements of a Samurai. In between offensive phases, Tenucian would slam his shield into the ground, creating massive shockwaves that would force the players to seek the shelter and protection of their fellow shield based players.

After the latest phase let up, Kirito and Asuna made their way to the front of the offensive. Kirito charged past a _Knight_ squad preparing to go in for a coordinated attack. He unleashed a series of swings in an opening he found. The creature was left open, and Kirito relented. Before a second could pass, Asuna followed up Kirito's attack with a combo of her own.

Klein and Egiru attempted to capitalize on the opening Asuna left, but were too slow. Paying for their sluggishness, Klein ate the full brunt of a shield slam. He was sent flying, before landing and skidding. He quickly got up.

"Ow, that hurt." Klein groaned.

Argo quickly grouped with Egiru to take Klein's place. Lis left to group with Klein. Forcing their way in, a _Knight_ squad forcefully broke through the defenses of Tenucian, exposing him further to offensive strikes. Once more, he raised his shield slamming the ground. The players quickly sought protection.

Kirito and Asuna found their way behind a _Knight_ shield bearer, along with several other _Knights._ They could hear the grunts of strain coming from the shield bearer. Kirito looked forward. It appeared as though his strength would buckle. Whether he hadn't been resting between phases properly, or forgot to drink his recovery potion, it didn't matter. Kirito realized what was happening, quickly commanding "He's about to break! Use a jump skill!"

Without hesitation, Asuna met him in the air. While short of flying, jumping skills in _Aincrad_ allowed players to achieve great heights. Several of the _Knights_ were too late, and as the bearer broke, they were knocked back by the shockwaves. Upon landing, Kirito caught the eye of Heathcliff. He could just barely make out what looked like an expression of anger from Heathcliff.

Heathcliff used a skill to repulse with his own shield, finally deflecting one of the weaker shockwaves back towards the boss. With this opening created, he shouted "Godfree, make yourself useful and end this!"

Godfree quickly responded to the command, unleashing a series of strikes that reduced the boss's HP to zero.

Greeted by the congratulatory message, the players all regrouped with their squads and had a rest.

* * *

"We're lucky we didn't lose anyone." Egiru stated, letting out a sigh of relief and exhaustion.

"Yeah. Hey boy, did you notice the _Knights?_ " Argo directed her question towards Kirito.

"What about them?" Lis interrupted, her curiosity piqued.

"I think so. Is it their battle setup?" Kirito made an educated guess.

"You got it."

"What was wrong with it?" Asuna indulged Argo or Kirito for an explanation.

"Asuna." Before Kirito would answer, Argo simply said Asuna's name, and tapped her finger on her head. In the heat of battle her hood had flown down.

"Wha-? Oh thank you." Asuna said blushing, before putting her hood back on. This aroused a giggle out of Lis and the others.

"Anyhow. Boy, enlighten us with what you saw. Your next tip is free if you get it right."

"Well, their roles were changed a little bit. When seeing them clear the Labyrinth, they're of course in the normal squads of six for _Aincrad._ Although, kind of like other MMOs, players will squad up in a formulaic fashion. The term traditionally used is 'holy trinity', and it describes how a group of players clearing content will organize with at least one tank, that is a player with heavy armor and usually a shield, at least one healer, and the remaining members will be damage dealers of some sort.

"You're right so far, boy." Argo confirmed.

" _Aincrad_ doesn't have castable magic like other MMOs might've had. But the _Knights_ and even some of the smaller guilds still employ an adapted setup. They'll usually have a tank, a support player, and then pure damage dealers. The formula is proven effective across millions of hours of play. If I were to apply it to our squad here, Egiru is the closest we have to a tank, and then Argo is a passable support player for _Aincrad_ , as she'll deliver recovery items to players who got the wind knocked out of them. The rest of us are of course the damage dealers. Although Lis, you're kind of weird.

"Excuse me?" Lis scowled at Kirito, demanding he expand further.

"Your weapon setup and how it matches into the roles of a squad. Your buckler and mace, although it is kind of unconventional, it can be used effectively to create openings for the other players to capitalize on. So in a way, you're more of a support role instead of a damage role."

"Oh, I see." Lis said, the wrinkles in her forehead disappearing at his valid explanation.

"So, what's the bigger point here? MMO theory is great and all, but we were talking about the _Knights_." Klein pressed.

"Right, about them. Their usual set up is one tank, one support, and the remainder damage dealers. If you ever see them clearing or drilling, they always practice with these roles in place. Thinking back to the last boss fight, they were organized like that as well. But today, it was different. They came already prepared, and had their support player equip heavy armor and a shield as well. As if they already knew about the boss's area of effect phase. And no, this ability wasn't in the beta."

"Interesting." Klein put two fingers to his chin and stroked his metaphorical beard.

"In fact, I think that's why the _Knight_ Asuna and I sheltered behind broke. Because his skills weren't quite high enough yet to withstand the attacks periodically like he had to." Kirito further concluded.

Asuna could only find a feeling of a sort of awe towards Kirito. "The battle hasn't been over for five minutes, yet he picked up on so much before and during the battle. Is this sort of sense and instinct what it would take to be _Knight_?" She thought to herself.

"Well ding ding ding, we have a winner." Argo confirmed smugly. "You're exactly right. Although I didn't expect as many details. Good job, boy. Next bit of info will be on me."

"Thanks." Kirito ended.

"So Argo, that raises another question. It wasn't in the beta, how could they have predicted the boss so well beforehand?" Egiru inquired.

"That's a more disturbing question then you think. I don't know."

The group gasped around Ago. How could she, perhaps the most infamous and well connected information broker in the game, not know this vital piece of data?

"It's alright. Can't expect you to know everything." Klein attempted to console Argo, who looked disappointed with herself.

"Thanks. But this is important. It would do me well, and of course all of you well, to figure this out. Maybe there's some sort of shadow broker out there. One who knows a lot more but isn't public about their business." Argo attempted to explain.

"Well, I still have the bigger question. How would a broker come across this sort of info?" Egiru further pressed.

"A few ways come to mind, off the top of my head. But somehow, I get the feeling those options wouldn't have led to this conclusion. We'll have to discuss this later. Egiru, buy me a drink on _Floor 7_ , it's technically a holiday today also." Argo demanded, standing up.

Egiru followed suit. "As you wish. Might do you well." The two went off towards _Floor 7_.

"Well, The day is still young, we should probably start blazing our trails on _Floor 7_ also. Have a good one, you two." Klein and Lis both got up and departed.

* * *

No one had noticed, but the rest of clearing party had departed the boss room as the auxiliary squad had their conversation. Eventually it was just Kirito and Asuna, left sitting alone in the vast empty room.

"So, I guess I should apologize. About earlier today. And last night, of course." Asuna broke the silence in a quiet, nervous voice.

"Apologize? What for?" Kirito asked, puzzled.

"I mean, you know what." Asuna clarified, not wanting to flat out say what had happened.

"Oh. That." Kirito said, playing along with the game of not specifically mentioning it either.

"I… I don't know how to say. What feelings I have, if they're right to act upon. I'm sorry, but I don't know." Quiet tears formed in Asuna eyes, and began to trickle down.

Although he wasn't showing it, nor planning to, Kirito felt the same. So unsure about his feelings as well. In a way, he was glad Asuna shared what he was going through also.

"It's just…" Asuna continued. "So much of it felt right. But at the same time. I just don't know if it's the way forward. I'm so sorry…" Tears began to flow more rapidly. Asuna crumbled into Kirito, who wrapped his arms around to comfort her.

"Asuna. It's ok. I understand I-" Kirito tried to speak before getting interrupted.

"And I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lead you on or anything. It's awful of me for have done this to you. It's unfair to you. It's just...I'm sorry I'm so weak." Asuna began to sob harder.

"Asuna, you're not weak." Kirito said before gently lowering her hood. "It's ok. I'm not mad. Or disappointed. Or anything. I understand what happened and why it might have happened. I'm just glad I could be there for the moment." Kirito attempted to reconcile Asuna. A deep feeling of hurt began to take root inside Kirito. The reality of his words stung him. They weren't quite lies, but he refused to show the full truth to Asuna, as he calculated it would be more beneficial for her sake to not reveal everything.

The truth that Kirito began to realize in himself, was that he had an undeniable feeling of caring for Asuna. While he couldn't figure out where it may have stemmed from. Maybe it was that night he met her and showed her toppings on food. Maybe it was the day he instinctively charged into a labyrinth to help her. No matter its origin, Kirito's words stung the feeling. Yet he refused to show it. This would be his reality. Although between the events of the past night and today he had considered the possibility of something more with Asuna, he had to come to terms that he had a similar feeling that she had as well, and it was not meant to be. Regardless of Kirito's spoken words, deep inside, he felt pain at this...rejection.

"Kirito. You. You are a liar. You can't. You can't say things like that." Asuna replied with a tinge of anger in her words.

"Asuna, I…I'm not-"

"You can't tell me that you don't feel the same. Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't." She pulled away from his shoulder and peered into his soul. He met her affixion.

"Asuna...I...I could never be mad at you. This is the truth. I...uhh,err...I'm not disappointed, or let down or anything like that. Like I said I've come, to accept what you want. And if you think it's the best, I'm alright with it. Really." Kirito stammered through, but told her without breaking her eye contact. The debate about whether or not to fully open himself to her continued internally. "And I also have that feeling of doubt. The feeling of unseredness." That was the furthest he would go, he decided. He would not risk revealing more. He needed to be the rock for Asuna.

Asuna crumbled into his arms once more. He placed one hand on her back, and one on the back of her head, pulling her closer into him. While at one point showing faint signs of recovery, Asuna renewed her sobbing.

"Kirito, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She cried.

"Please stop apologizing. There's nothing to be sorry for." Kirito replied.

For a while, there was no conversation, and the only noise that occupied the room were the sobs of Asuna. Eventually she calmed down, but her tears were still flowing.

"Kirito," She began, head still firmly rested against him. "I want to go home. I want to go home. I want my life back. I want to escape this place. I miss my life. I-"

"So do I."


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Life Will Change

 _1st January 2023. Aincrad, Floor 8,Hay Cafe and Inn. 08:00 AM, Aincrad Standard Time._

Kirito was up surprisingly early by his standards. Especially for a day where he had no particular obligations to do much of anything. There had been a dip in clearing progress due to the holiday, as well as the labyrinth of _Floor 8_ being particularly hard to find. Kirito made his way down the stairs to the common area of the inn. He saw Egiru and Argo sitting at the bar, drinks in hand. Kirito took a seat next to Egiru.

"Well well….look who decided to roll out of bed! Your holiday nice? Maybe someone else will be walking down those stairs hmmm?" Egiru loudly asked, teasing Kirito and slapping him on the back. Egiru was clearly inebriated.

"Isn't it just a little bit early to start drinking?" Kirito chided back.

"Start? Aw hell, we haven't stopped!" Egiru replied. He and Argo had been drinking the New Years away.

"Yeah, this one was able to make it past three this time!" Argo jested.

"Hey now, I think I've lost count, but I might be in the lead…" Egiru pondered.

"In your dreams. A girl a third your size is still beating you!"

"Whatever." Egiru ended the line of conversation. "So how was your holiday night anyway?"

"Yeah, how was it? Say boy, it could be the alcohol but I don't seem to recall her being around for the _Floor 7_ fight. Was she?" Argo asked.

"What? Oh no she wasn't." Kirito replied, trying to hide his emotion in his response.

"Well. I'm sure she had her reasons. How are you two doing anyway? You two seemed like you had a good Christmas. Was New Years even better?" Argo pried with a wink.

"What? Oh no, we're not like...together or anything. We haven't actually seen each other in a while." Kirito's facade had failed. More than he'd like to admit, he had been affected by Asuna and his conversation in the boss room. He had thought about it more often than he wanted to. Always wondering whether or not a different choice of words would have had an outcome. Nonetheless, Argo and Egiru's questions, although they meant well, stung.

"What do you mean? You couldn't keep your hands off each other just a week ago." Argo further pressed, and of course exaggerated all in jest.

"We were never together, or anything. Let's just leave it at that." Kirito said, trying to end the conversation.

"No? Well what I saw of you two is a different story. But you looked like you were on cloud nine on Christmas. Boy, I understand if something happened. You can tell us. We may be...not all here, but we're here to help ya out. Egiru and I that is."

"Argo, we're the only ones here." Egiru replied.

"I know _that_." Argo quickly quipped back. "I'm sure he knows what I mean. You probably do too."

"Maybe. Look Kirito, what I think the lady is saying is if you want to talk about it or maybe if you want some advice. After all, in college I was known as "The Love Guru"." Egiru further offered.

"Thanks, but I'm good. Really I am. I don't want or need to talk about what happened. I'll be OK." Kirito declined their offer.

"Boy, is she alright?" Argo adopted a more serious tone, leering at Kirito. "You didn't hurt her, did you?"

"What? No. I don't think so at least. It's her fault anyway." Kirito was taken back at the question. Saddened by her or not Kirito could never bring himself to hurt Asuna. But he was brought to wonder, how had she been doing this whole time? Was she as affected as he was?

"Boy. It's not her fault. It's not yours either. It's no one's fault. It's hers and yours choices or wishes, no fault." Argo replied.

"That's surprisingly insightful. Thanks. But if you two don't mind, I'll be going now." Kirito got up from his seat and went to depart. He wanted no further part of this conversation.

* * *

Asuna wandered the streets with her hood up as usual. She hadn't seen any of her "friends". The players who she considered familiar faces. She hadn't seen them in passing or otherwise. It's like they had disappeared. She was in solace. Alone. She had thought back to to her conversation with Kirito about a week prior. Did she make the right choice? How was kirito handling it? Was he thinking back to it all? Did she regret? Did he regret? The thoughts crept into her mind every time she attempted to do something else. If only she could talk to him again. But would he want to see her? Did she even want to see him? Would he try to talk to her?

All of these questions raced through her mind. This was the first time she had ever considered any sort of anything with a boy her age. Coming from a wealthy family, her parents would try to find a suitable husband for her at an early age, so she had never bothered developing feelings for anyone at school. Even so, she had rejected all of her parents offers thus far. None of the suitors came off as genuine. "Yet…" she thought, what was her feeling towards Kirito now, or what had it been? Was it love? That is such a strong word she thought. At the very least, she found him, or at least at one point found that she had a care for him. Was it love? She didn't know.

Asuna continued to be engrossed by these thoughts as she wandered. Deep down, she wished she could see just someone. Whether it was Lis, or Klein, or even Kirito. Just someone. She found a bench that wasn't too covered by the snow. She sat on it with her head down. She attempted to shift her thoughts to the future but failed. The tendrils of doubt had firmly wrapped through her mind. Tears began to well in her eyes.

"I'm sorry." She said to the air, and brought her knees to her chest, burying her head.

* * *

After a while of losing herself, she felt a hand on her back. Someone sat down next to her. It wasn't until he spoke that she lifted her head.

"I thought a lot about you today." Kirito began to say. Asuna lowered her hood and looked at him. Her eyes were red and eyelids dark from sobbing. "Well actually. That's a lie. I've thought a lot about you the past while, to be honest."

"Kirito I-"

"Please, let me finish. I wasn't open with you previously. But now I want to be. Asuna, I think we have or at least had very similar feelings to each other at the time. It was my failure that I couldn't express it at the time, when it was necessary. I don't know if it is worth much now, but I want to say it anyway. I have to admit that I felt pain when we were talking. I didn't express it because I didn't know if it would help you or not at the time. And I'm sorry for that."

"Kirito." Asuna clenched her arms around him. "Kirito, it's my fault. I'm sorry for-"

"Asuna, no." Kirito interrupted her. "It's not your fault. Or my fault. It's what we chose." Argo's words were coming in handy here.

"Kirito, no. I can't accept that. It's my fault for putting you through this pain. This pain of having to hold it in. I'm sorry. I'm a bad person for doing it to you. I don't deserve what you're saying right now."

"Do you remember what I told you? I told you I could never be mad at you. I meant that. I haven't been mad this whole time. I don't quite know what I've been this whole time. But you sound like you've been angry."

"What? No. What reason would I have to be angry at you?" Asuna asked. How could he think that she was upset with him?

"No, Asuna you've been mad at yourself, when you shouldn't have been. We need to resolve something, however. What choice are we going to make?"

"I, I don't know. Kirito I care for you a great deal."

"I care for you also."

"So the feeling is mutual then. But I just fear…"

"What is it?"

"I fear that it could endanger us. I can't stand to hold the thought that something more between us may endanger us both. We both want to keep fighting to escape. We're already risking so much by doing so. Kirito, if you were to get killed because of it, I couldn't live with myself. Christmas night wasn't as spontaneous as it might have seemed. I guess, come think of it, this feeling had been harboring for a while. And I get the impression it was for you as well. But that's besides the point now. "

Kirito felt the sting again, as did Asuna. At this moment, he let the cold and calculating part of his mind take over. Her point was perfectly valid and he had the same fear. "Then I think it's settled then. For both of our sakes. Our feelings need be pushed away so we can survive. Is this our choice?" Kirito asked for Asuna's agreeance.

"Yes. This is our choice." She agreed, thinking it for the best as well.

"Wel. I'll see you around Asuna." Kirito broke her hold and got up to leave.

"Wait-Kirito. " Asuna reached out her hand to stop him, gripping him by the arm. "Thank you."

She got to her feet and gave him a kiss goodbye. He reciprocated the embrace. Asuna watched him disappear into the main portion of town.

 _7th January 2023. Aincrad, Floor 8,Boss Room. 11:00 PM, Aincrad Standard Time._

"So, I guess that ends the beta test." Egiru sheathed his axe and turned to Argo and Kirito.

After a long and grueling boss fight, the clearing party had beaten _Floor 8's_ boss, the honor of the last hit actually going to Lis this time around.

"I guess you could say that. Scared you two?" Argo asked in reply.

"Nah." Came the reply from Kirito and Egiru.

"What do you think _Floor 9_ will be like?" Egiru further queried.

"Well, I guess that's for us to find out!" Klein said, approaching the conversation, Lis at his side.

"Let's go!" Lis led the way as the five of them journeyed to the next floor.

* * *

"Miss...Asuna was it?"

"Hmm? Oh yes." Asuna turned around to meet the eyes of Heathcliff.

"I don't think we've been formally introduced. I am Heathcliff, leader of the _Knights of the Blood_." As he extended his arm for a handshake.

"Nice to meet you. I am Asuna of...the solo players." Asuna introduced herself.

"You handle yourself well in battle. I must say, your sword is like lightning."

"What? Oh thank you." Asuna giggled at the compliment.

"Please allow me to get to the chase. I would like to formally invite you to the _Knights_. Your skill could be further nurtured and you could truly become an unstoppable force, if you so desire."

Asuna was taken back at his offer. Her? A _Knight?_ Did she have the knowledge? The prowess? Heathcliff seemed to think so, she thought. What was her response? This seems like the best opportunity she would have to survive long term she further considered.

"Oh wow. I appreciate your invitation, and am honored that you would consider me. Thank you."

"Does that mean you accept?"

"What? Oh yes of course sorry. Thank you." She confirmed with a bow.

"Welcome to the _Knights._ "

* * *

Before leaving the boss room, Kirito looked behind his shoulder to see Asuna and Heathcliff engaged in conversation. He figured what was happening. "Good for her" he thought. As he turned his head to face forward, something on the wall caught his eye. He stopped and walked up to it inspecting it further.

An etching of a small bird was engrained on the wall, and it was glowing a deep red color. Kirito ran his hand across the etching. It was cool to the touch.

"Boy, you coming?" He heard Argo shout from the exit of the room.

Kirito left the boss room, rejoining his squad mates.

End of Arc I: The Fear


	24. Chapter 24

Arc II: The Sorrow

Chapter 24: The Kill

 _23rd February 2023. Aincrad, Floor 16, Eska Forest Lake. 09:00 PM, Aincrad Standard Time._

Kirito sat on the shore of the lake located in the heart of the forest. The bright moonlight reflected off of the water's surface, illuminating his surroundings. Kirito simply basked in the environment. For the first time in months, it hadn't snowed on any Floor in Aincrad. He was simply enjoying the weather, sandwich in hand.

Kirito could have sworn he heard a creature moving in the bushes, but there was no breeze. He used his _Tracking_ skill and looked towards the direction of the noise. He saw a signature in the bush and went to draw his sword. Upon further inspection, the signature appeared human? "It's certainly not an animal." Kirito thought to himself. "But it's too tiny to be a human, and to be so low…wait." His thought process reasoned, and he released the grip on his sword.

"Argo, what do you want?" Kirito said in the direction of the bushes behind him. They moved around more before the previously unknown figure emerged into the moonlight.

"How did you know it was me?" Argo began.

Kirito simply switched on his _Tracking_ skill. His pupils dilating to show the effect.

"Damn, I forgot you had that. Anyway, long time no see." Argo greeted.

"I guess you could say that. But I have to ask, do you have a tracker on me or something? You always seem to be able to find me…"

"Oh quite the contrary. Maybe you're just easier to predict than you think. But oh to consider if I could know your location at all times...wait a minute, I can!" Argo's expression went bright. She opened her menu and sent Kirito a friend request.

Kirito's menu popped up with the notification.

"Argo, that won't work. That's not a feature or anything."

"Quite the contrary. It got added in at some point, somehow. I noticed when trying to spy on Egiru. I had the option to see his location, hit it, and sure enough, found him!" Argo said excitedly.

"That wasn't here on the game's release."

"It certainly wasn't. But it's useful, many many purposes exist for it. How did you not know? Usually you're such a guru of general game knowledge."

Kirito hit the decline button, and her expression darkened. "Don't have friends." Kirito replied.

"Uh…"

"Don't have a friends list, that is. I've kept it totally empty and blank since launch day. Helps with not getting attached."

"Well, that got unexpectedly dark." Argo looked at the ground, further saddened at the remark.

"Sorry, it's the reality." Kirito tried to reconcile.

"Well, everyone has their reasons, I suppose. Anywho… How have you been? Haven't seen you in a town since around _Floor 10._ "

"Oh, I'm there occasionally." Kirito corrected. "I go by to visit blacksmiths, food if hunting wasn't successful, things like that."

"Where have you slept?"

"Out here."

"Don't you freeze your ass off?"

"Eh, the sleeping bags for sale aren't that bad. And it was cold the first few nights, but it's a small price to pay for not having to do more travel time. I just wake up and get to it. Besides, the weather is getting better."

"Gotta admire your dedication. But still, no one really has seen you even when out leveling, either out here or in the labyrinth."

"I usually go out at night. Less players are around, so I don't have to wait for respawns."

"...Did you just wake up?"

"About thirty minutes ago."

"Truly a man of the wilderness. But aren't you worried about being out of a safe zone?" Argo joked.

"Can't say that I am. I'm a light sleeper here anyway. Whatever though, can't argue with efficiency." Kirito concluded. In response, Argo looked up at his level.

" _ **Level: 28**_ "

"Boy, they just got to this Floor yesterday. Is that the cap?" Argo asked, amazed at how quickly Kirito managed to progress past the previous floor.

"Not quite, although things have slowed down. 29 is probably achievable."

"That's still insanity."

"I guess." Kirito concluded that train of thought. "But Argo, what brings you out to see me?"

"Just hadn't seen you in a while. Truth be told, I haven't seen anyone in a while. Egiru has been off doing guild stuff, so that applies to all of them also. And of course the other girl is off with the elitists. Oh sorry, was that out loud? Anywho, I haven't participated in any sort of clearing since Floor 9. My level is still at a healthy 20, so you could probably kick my ass. Especially out here, outside of a city. You know, outside of a safe zone, where players can attack each other? You're already keen to live in the wilderness while your outlaw status returns to green. Oh no, whatever shall I do, a tiny girl, in the wilderness, underpowered and under sized...certainly no match for such a strong and overpowering swordsman like your self…" Argo's voice kept getting softer and softer as she went on.

"Don't make this weird." Kirito plead to get her to stop.

"Of course I'm only joking. If you wanted me dead, I'd be long gone by now."

"Who knows, maybe I'm waiting for the perfect time, when you'd least expect it…" Kirito replied with a slight grin.

"Nah, I don't think you'd do that. I'd say I'm safe. Back to the topic at hand. I just wanted to see someone. Brokering has been busy and as aforementioned, others have been as well. A girl gets lonely, you know?"

"Fair enough. It is nice to see you though." Kirito finally greeted, and invited Argo to sit down next to him.

"Likewise. As I said, I haven't been around for clearing. How is the other girl anyway? Adjusting well to her new title?"

"She seems to be, yeah. Klein's guild has grown, they have their own full squad for clearing. And back to her, looks like she's already leading her own squad now. The _Knights_ have three solid squads, and the _Liberation_ can field up to five now but their attendance have been shotty. A few smaller guilds occasionally bring their own to fill in the gaps, but a majority of the clearing group still comprises the _Knights._ They field all members all the time. "

"So looks like you guys have maxed out the capacity to fight a boss then. Wait, what about you? If there are seven squads with people filled in all of them, how are you able to fight?"

"Well, that's kind of the strange thing. The game could be considered broken in that regard. It will block an eighth squad into the labyrinth, but not players who aren't in parties. So even if there are seven squads, players not in parties can still enter and fight."

"I see. So have there been lot of players that do that?"

"No."

"Why do you think that is?"

"It's disadvantageous, especially during fights that deal large area damage. Well, more dangerous is probably the proper term. With the party interface, you can constantly see how your party members are doing in terms of health and status effects. But if you're not in a party, people have to make an effort to see yours, which can be tough in battle."

"So you've just been by yourself. Looking out for yourself during the fights." Argo confirmed, almost feeling bad for Kirito.

"Yeah, but I don't mind. I don't have to worry about anyone else, and no one has to worry about me, and I just play off what the other squads are doing"

"I don't think that's quite true. I'm sure if Klein or Egiru saw you in significant trouble or danger they would help you."

"I wouldn't expect them to."

Argo turned her head towards Kirito, before asking him in an almost stern tone "Would you help them?"

"I don't know."

Argo turned her head back to looking out over the lake's surface.

The two continued to converse, catching up and just simply talking. After the conversation dwindled, Argo got up to her feet.

"Well, I'd better be off. Need the beauty rest ya know? But I do have a favor to ask you." Argo proposed.

"What is it?" Kirito replied.

"Care to walk me back to town? I'm under levelled for the creatures out here. Hence why I had to sneak up on you earlier. It was exhausting, let me tell ya."

"Seems fair enough." Kirito said, and got to his feet as well.

The two departed the lake and made their back to the main town of the floor, _Eska._

* * *

The pair reached the outskirts Eska without issue, they could see the streets from the outside, bustling even at this time of night.

"Well, thanks for the escort." Argo thanked Kirito.

"What? Oh don't mention it." Kirito replied carefree.

"Although, I have one more thing to ask."

"What is it?"

"I need to ask you, if some unforeseen circumstances occur, or things go bad during a fight, I need to ask that you'll help Egiru and the others."

"I dunno. What's in it for me?" Kirito asked, semi-jokingly, but trying his luck as to what he might gain from an information stand point.

"Boy, I'm serious. I'm not asking you as a client. I'm asking you as a friend."

Kirito wiped his grin, and reciprocated the same tone that Argo had. "I will."

Argo's face lit up in a smile. "Thanks boy."

* * *

Any further conversation was prevented from continuing as they saw two _Knights_ clad in their signature white and red accented plate approach them from town.

"What the hell are they doing? Are they coming towards us? Do they need us for something?" Argo asked.

"I don't know." Kirito replied. "One way to find out."

The two sat still and let them approach.

"You don't recognize them from any sort of clearing party, do you?" Argo further inquired.

"Maybe. The ones in full armor all kind of look the same. But I think one is from Asuna's squad, the other from Heathcliff's. Obviously the tanks of each squad." Kirito guessed.

The _Knights_ had closed the distance.

"Are you the Keiken swordsman Kirito?" The _Knight_ on the left asked.

A fear arose in Kirito. Not only had he not heard the term _Keiken_ in a long time, but he already disliked the amount of information the _Knight_ had on him.

"I don't think so." Kirito said, trying to get out of whatever business the _Knights_ wanted with him.

The _Knight_ on the right caught the ear of the other. "The sword. It's one of a kind. It's gotta be him."

"We have to ask you to come with us, boy. There's been a crime and we need you to answer a few questions. For ours and yours safety, we need to ask that you hand over your weapon and come with us back to the guild headquarters." The _Knight_ on the left further requested.

"Kirito, what are they talking about? Did you do something wrong? I mean geez, I was only joking about being murdered earlier." Argo turned and asked Kirito.

"I don't know." Kirito simply replied back.

"As we ask, please hand over your sword and we can be on our way." The left _Knight_ continued to ask.

"Sorry, but whatever it is, you got the wrong guy. I'm not going anywhere." Kirito insisted.

"Very well." The _Knight_ said. The pair of _Knights_ drew their weapons. "Perhaps, we can ask a little bit firmer."

Kirito drew his weapon, standing against the _Knights._ "Argo, run." Kirito calmly ordered.

"What? Are you sure? I can help you." Argo contrared.

"We're just outside of the safe zone of the city. I don't want you to get hurt." Kirito replied. Heeding his words, Argo sprinted past the _Knights_ and towards town.

One of the _Knights_ attempted to turn around and follow Argo, but she was too fast and the _Knight_ was encumbered.

"Don't bother, the rat isn't our concern." The other _Knight_ commanded.

"Well, let's get to it." Kirito said to himself, before charging forward.

The first _Knight_ Kirito charged at easily and expectedly deflected the initial strike from Kirito with his shield. The _Knight_ swung his weapon to attack, a move that Kirito parried and landed a glancing blow onto the armor of the _Knight_ , using the opening his parry created.

Quickly Kirito switched targets to the second _Knight,_ and landed a combo strike onto the shield of the second _Knight._ The _Knight_ was staggered back and knocked to the ground. Before Kirito could capitalize, the first _Knight_ stood to guard his comrade, and absorbed the blow with his shield. Kirito quick stepped backwards to make distance. The _Knights_ were slow but massive by comparison to Kirito. He was easily able to out maneuver them but could get physically overpowered due to the added mass from the armor.

"You're pretty good." The first _Knight_ began. "Luckily we know how to play to our advantages."

The _Knight_ charged forward with his shield for a slam. Kirito stepped back once more, just narrowly dodging the strike. While raising his sword to attack, the _Knight_ thrust with his sword from behind the shield. The piercing attack struck Kirito in his abdomen. Kirito was more surprised than anything.

"So you _do_ bleed. Good to know." The _Knight_ stated.

Kirito retaliated immediately, giving all he could into a sword combo into the shield of the _Knight._

"You do know how shields work, right?" The _Knight_ asked. "It's like you're just striking a wall."

"Don't worry, I do." Kirito thrust with his sword, just hitting the shield of the _Knight_. After the blow had landed, the shield burst into the polygonal ash that was the universal indicator of ceasing existence in _Aincrad._

"What, did you…?" The now shieldless _Knight_ asked.

"You forgot to repair your shield from the last time you used it. I attacked it directly to eventually break it." Kirito replied, explaining his methodology.

"How did you know?"

"Lucky guess."

Kirito charged forward and unleashed another series of strikes onto the _Knight_. The _Knight_ attempted to raise his weapon to try and deflect Krito's strikes, but it was futile as he was just ultimately too fast. Kirito landed direct hits onto the person of the _Knight_ , and suddenly stopped mid strike.

At the last second, Kirito noticed the HP of the _Knight_ he was attacking was at 1. Any more damage and he would perish. Kirito left the now incapacitated _Knight_ and focussed on the second one who had finally recovered and gotten to his feet.

"I'm going to guess, you're new to the _Knights_ aren't you? Not used to wearing all that plate armor, and in a new role to fill fo your guild." Kirito inquired.

"You wouldn't know that." The second _Knight_ replied.

"Pretty likely, I'd say. You're much more of a pushover than your friend there." Kirito furthered.

"Well, I have a guess for you also. Even though his shield was already partially damaged, it still took a toll on your sword. Probably couldn't pull that move again."

Kirito glanced at his sword's durability. The _Knight_ was correct, Kirito would have to be careful to not break his sword.

The _Knight_ charged forward with his shield just as his comrade had. This time Kirito sidestepped, and used his steel toe plated boot to strike the back of the _Knight's_ head. Using the opening, he struck the rear of the _Knight's_ armor with his sword, inflicting damage to the _Knight's_ HP. Kirito retreated, putting distance between them before the _Knight_ could directly retaliate.

"I'll give you that." The _Knight_ began. "I am new. And to the role as well. I used to be a swordsman like you." The _Knight_ unequipped the bulk of his heavy armor, as well as his shield, only drawing a sword to oppose Kirito.

The _Knight_ charged forward, using sword skills that were similar to Kirito's. Kirito barely managed to dodge some, but sustained damage from others. The two clashed sword to sword, deflecting and parrying each other's blows. The _Knight_ was quick enough to recover from each parry that Kirito couldn't use an opening besides to get quick little strikes in here and there.

As the dueling went on, Kirito got more and more nervous about his sword's durability. After parrying a strike, Kirito used the fraction of an opening to put distance between him and the _Knight._

Kirito looked at his sword's durability, sitting at 2. It would survive one more strike to the body of the _Knight,_ but if he deflected it, his sword would break. He looked up at the _Knight's_ HP, it would only take one more strike from his sword to bring it to 1. Kirito glanced up at his own HP, and it was on similar footing to the _Knight's_. Kirito couldn't decide if he wanted to risk one final strike with his sword or, he got an idea.

Kirito unequipped his sword.

"What's the matter? Think your fists will work better?" The _Knight_ began to taunt. "Well, let's see you you stop this!"

The _Knight_ charged forward with a finishing strike. Suddenly, he felt a pain in his chest and stomach, and stopped in his tracks. The _Knight_ watched his HP reduce to 1, and fell to his knees, dropping his sword. He looked down, and saw two hunting kunais in his body. He looked up at Kirito, blood now coming out of the _Knight's_ mouth.

Kirito simply grinned and approached the _Knight_. Kirito picked up the _Knight's_ sword and put it into his inventory.

"Tools can be weapons also. Thanks for the spare sword." Kirito calmly said, and took off back into the woods towards the lake, as the _Knight_ passed out.

 _24th February 2023. Aincrad, Floor 16,Eska Forest Lake. 08:00 AM, Aincrad Standard Time._

Kirito was exhausted from the fight with the _Knights,_ and decided to fall asleep as a normal person would (that is, if a normal person went to sleep at four in the morning). After fleeing the site of the duel, Kirito had stayed vigilant near the area of the lake in case he was being followed or hunted. After figuring it was relatively safe, Kirito had placed his sleeping bag under the covers of trees and brush, staying away from the open sightlines of the lake shores.

Kirito was disturbed from his sleep. He groggily opened his eyes. As his vision came into clarity, he saw a girl clad in white and red standing over him, her head bent to look into his eyes. He could just make out the expression on her face. It was an angry one.

Kirito let out a sigh. "Why am I not surprised to see you?" Kirito asked Asuna, closing his eyes again, and not caring to get up.

"Just what did you think you were doing?" Asuna began, an interrogatory tone dominated her questions.

"Sleeping? At least trying to. What time is it anyway?"

"Eight."

"In the AM?"

"Of course, it's morning. Do you not hear the birds chirping?"

"Still kind of asleep here."

Kirito finally sat up, and withdrew his sleeping bag. He was now standing, facing Asuna. He looked her over. She had certainly brightened up her wardrobe, wearing white boots and leggings, with a white and red skirt and long sleeved top, under a leather breastplate that she also adorned. Her rapier still at her side, but she had ditched her hood.

"So Asuna, long time no see. You don't look happy." Kirito stated.

"Yeah, you're right about that." Asuna's tone was very matter of factual now, with a hint of annoyance. "Could you care to explain why you decided leave two _Knights_ an inch from death in the middle of the field outside Eska?"

"Could you care to explain how you found me?" Kirito rebutted.

"My sources wish to remain anonymous. Still, you need to explain yourself. If not…" Asuna put her hand on her rapier, threatening to draw it.

"What do you want to know? They attacked me." Kirito nonchalantly replied.

"They hardly did anything of the sort. They just wanted to bring you back to our guild hall to answer a few questions for Commander Heathcliff."

"Oh wow, if only they had told me _that_." Kirito said sarcastically. "They did, but they acted like I was under arrest."

"Why did you attack them?"

"To be fair, they drew their weapons first."

"Somehow I doubt that. Didn't they tell you what happened?"

"They just said there was a crime, and acted like I committed it. Believe me or not, I acted in self defense. I even have a witness."

Asuna looked up to see Kirito's outlaw status. The indicator was green, proving his claim that he was not the aggressor. She took her hand off her weapon, and relaxed a little. She looked into Kirito's eyes.

"Kirito, a player's been murdered."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Lingering

 _24th February 2023. Aincrad, Floor 16,Eska Forest Lake. 08:00 AM, Aincrad Standard Time._

"Kirito a player's been murdered."

"So?" Came Kirito's reply. Asuna was stunned at the coldness of the response.

"What do you mean 'so'?" Asuna pressed.

"This isn't necessarily rare, Asuna. Duels go wrong, other accidents happen. This wouldn't be the first time. " Kirito replied. Asuna couldn't deny his reasoning or response now.

"Kirito this was...different. It was actual murder. As in planned and almost...ceremonial." Asuna clarified, adding gravity to the situation. Now Kirito took on a disturbed expression.

"I see. Why blame me?" Kirito asked. Would Asuna really think of him as a psychopath? Would others?

"We weren't blaming you, per say. It was more it happened near you. Believe it or not you haven't been as hidden as you may think here. Many people pass through here during the day while you may be asleep. And the corpse was found not too far from here. Maybe you saw or heard something. We just wanted to ask."

"I can probably guess, but who is this 'we' you keep referring to?"

"Who do you think? It's the _Knights_."

"Why does your guild care?"

"The Commander feels it our responsibility to also maintain the general sanity of the population. If word got out that there was a killer going around, people would panic, and that would be disruptive, to say the least. We might have less people joining us to clear, our supply of weapons and armor may be disrupted, you probably get the idea."

"I see, so you guys are also a police force now."

"Still not quite. As I said before, this is a special case."

"Wait a minute. Asuna, you said you found the corpse. How? When HP reaches zero, things disappear." Kirito inquired.

"Well, outside of who did it, that's question number one. The _Knights_ who found the corpse reported it disappearing about fifteen minutes after they found it. But who knows how long it was there. I asked Argo this morning, and she had no idea how the corpse could stay present like that. So we thought we would find you also. Maybe you might know of some game mechanic that could lead to this. And Kirito?"

"What is it?"

"I need you to tell me. Not the _Knights_ but me. You didn't do it did you? You didn't see it or help or anything like that, right?"

"Wha-, no. Of course not. "

"I knew it!" Asuna thrust forward, hugging Kirito.

"What gives, Asuna?"

"The Commander, Heathcliff that is, jumped to some conclusions. Especially after you dueled the _Knights_ last night. He wanted me to come with a full squad because he was afraid you might hurt me. I told him you wouldn't, and it took a lot of convincing, but it's just me out here. But I knew. I knew you wouldn't do anything bad!"

"Heathcliff thinks I did it?"

"Maybe not. But you're at the top of the list. Kirito, if there was any player who would know how to pull this off and get away with it, it'd be you."

"I'm almost flattered." Kirito replied, humorously.

"Then, I guess there's one last thing to ask you, if you didn't see anything and obviously didn't do it. Do you know this image from anywhere?" Asuna retrieved a paper card from her inventory and displayed it to Kirito.

The card had an inked image of a laughing face. The eyes looked depraved, and there was no nose, the next feature being a mouth with a wide grin.

"No, I don't. Was that left near the corpse?"

"Yes. We would probably call it a calling card in the real world."

"Have you tried checking ownership of the card? If someone drew that it should be tagged with the player name." Kirito suggested.

"Yes, it comes up as unknown. Even bringing it to an appraiser gave us nothing."

"I see. So we're kind of screwed here then, huh?"

"I suppose so. Well, since you're a dead end-"

"Gee thanks."

"Since you're _not an accomplice in murder_ , I suppose I should be going."

"See you later, Asuna."

Asuna departed through the forest back towards town.

 _24th February 2023. Aincrad, Floor 16,Florentine Inn, Eska. 05:00 PM, Aincrad Standard Time._

Kirito felt a primal fear stir within himself as he stared into his image reflected from his tea.

"A murder…" He thought." And so close to himself? Did it happen when he was near camp or off somewhere? Could it have as easily been him who was killed? No...Asuna implied it was a targeted attack. But the victim...what was special about him? Did certain groups of players now have targets on their backs? Would there be more murders? And what about item persistence? Who would be next?"

"What about Asuna…" He continued thinking, trying to figure out who he knew who may have targets on their back. "No, she'll be safe, their guild hall is guarded as a formality. Klein, Lis, and now Egiru? Surely if they're together they won't be in danger. But, none of them are necessarily the sharpest, they could be attacked in their sleep. Wait they sleep in inns all the time and don't camp outside the safe zones. But Argo...she is no stranger to the outsides of the safe zones. She could easily be attacked and overpowered in transit...Damn it!"

So many questions swirled in Kirito's mind. His thought process was interrupted by Argo who took a seat across from him and instantaneously ordered tea as well.

"Argo, I was just-" Kirito was cut off.

"Thinking about me? I'm sure it happens a lot." Argo winked and teased.

"Yeah, kind of."

"I see you survived your interrogation."

"Yeah. I'm sure you've heard what's happened by this point."

"Of course, it's the talk of the brokers. Although somehow, not the talk of the town yet."

"At least that's good."

"Are you helping with the investigation at all?"

"No, I didn't intend to."

"Why not?" Argo was surprised by Kirito's inaction.

"Not my job. If I wanted to play white knight I would just join them. But this is none of my business." Kirito put up the facade of indifference. He didn't want to let Argo know his concern so she wouldn't be scared.

"Fair enough I guess. But maybe you can still help me." Argo continued.

"So this is business?"

"Half and Half."

"What is it then?"

"Kirito, do you know of ANY mechanic that could have allowed the body to remain after death? Anything at all come to mind? I'll pay you the contents of my coin purse. For just _something_. Even your wildest theory."

"Well, I-"

"Kirito, don't tell me you haven't thought about it. At least one bit? Come on, that part has to be the most intriguing to you."

"Well, honestly yeah. I have thought about it. But I don't know if what I've come up with will be accurate or not."

"Just give me something, boy!" Argo got excited to hear whatever would come out of Kirito's mouth next.

"Here goes then: I think it would have something to do with the paralysis mechanic."

"How so?"

"Things affected by paralysis remain stationary, as far as the game is concerned."

"Yeah a few players have floated that idea around, but upon further thought, they don't hold water. I guess you lose then boy."

"Here, let me finish. You can apply the paralysis "poison" to weapons, as it's typically used in hunting. Thus far, all the poisons in the game have been weak, with the affects only lasting a few seconds. Someone may have figured out a stronger poison. One that would last longer. If the time duration was still valid even when the HP was zero, then there's a chance the affected object would remain."

"But how would someone get this stronger position? That's what we haven't been able to figure out yet."

"That beats me. There's probably a quest or something for it somewhere. Or as we've seen, you can acquire skills by doing actions not associated with quests now."

"Interesting. Yeah we first noticed that at around _Floor 11_ or so. The skills thing that is."

"So that's my working theory."

"Well it's my favorite so far. Here." Argo handed Kirito the contents of her coin purse.

"Thanks."

"Don't go spending it all in one place now." Argo winked and left the inn.

Kirito finished a second glass of tea before talking to the innkeeper about a room. Using his newfound wealth courtesy of Argo, he decided to treat himself to the nicest room they had.

He walked up the stairs to the room, and opened the door. Unequipping his gear he sat and rested on the couch in front of the room's fireplace. The heat felt nice, as the air outside still had a nip to it. He could certainly see where the premium price came in. The room was beyond spacious, a massive bed, and all of the commodities one could want.

Kirito sat up and opened up his inventory to sort through it. After a short while, he heard the bathroom door rustle. He turned over his shoulder to look. "What the-"

Asuna, wrapped in nothing but a towel walked out of the bathroom. Her gaze met his and her expression turned to one of shock with a hint of anger. Kirito jolted to his feet.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" Asuna screamed, Kirito ducked back behind the couch.

"I could ask you the same thing. I rented this room!"

"YOU THINK I DIDN'T DO THE SAME!?" Asuna replied. Kirito couldn't tell if that had made matters worse or not.

"I don't know what happened then, maybe the innkeeper forgot or something."

"I DON'T CARE. GET OUT OF MY ROOM KIRITO!"

"As you wish." Kirito got up and left the room, going back down to the common area.

That was certainly the most angry and aggressive (and for that matter, embarrassed) he had ever seen Asuna, at least towards another person. He was going to speak to the innkeeper but he was nowhere to be found. Kirito sat back at the table he and Argo had occupied earlier that evening. After a short while, he looked up and saw Asuna walking down the stairs, this time fully clothed, albeit casually. She sat across from Kirito.

"I just had a discussion with the innkeeper."

"Where's the body?" Kirito quipped.

"Not funny." Asuna replied with a sour look.

"Oh, yeah that's right, sorry." Kirito was reminded of the context of his remark.

"He mistakenly rented out the room twice. Earlier to me and then to you."

"How is that even possible? The technical mechanic is that it goes under the temporary ownership of the player that rented it, so that others can't enter it without the permission of the owner and the sound doesn't escape through the doors. You know? All of those fun property mechanics."

"Apparently, the room can accept joint ownership as it's more than large enough for two players."

"I guess that would make sense. Well, sorry Asuna. I didn't mean to-"

"Sorry? It's not your fault. It's that useless innkeeper's mistake. I just hope you'll forget what you saw."

"I'll try to. I'll go see about another room." Kirito began to get up.

"Don't. There's no refund mechanic from NPCs in the game, it'll be a waste of your money. You already paid for the room, right?"

"Yeah."

"It certainly isn't cheap. And even the normal rooms here are expensive as well. So in fairness, I'll let you stay in that room also. Deal?" Asuna extended her hand.

Kirito blushed a nervous shade of red at her proposition. "Deal." He reached across the table and shook her hand. "Really, spending the night with someone who might be a murderer. I wouldn't let Heathcliff know." Kirito teased.

"Don't worry, he won't. But, you're of course sleeping on the couch." Asuna clarified. "Don't be getting any ideas now."

"Relax, I wouldn't. I figured that was the case anyway."

"Good. Shall we?"

The two wandered up to what was now their agreed upon room.

* * *

Kirito sat in the bath. The simulation for the feel of water in _Aincrad_ was certainly the weakest point of the full dive technology. There was something just not quite right about it. Nonetheless, the water and steam was relaxing.

Kirito got dressed in the bathroom and returned to the primary bedroom. Asuna was already asleep in the bed. Kirito turned off the lamp still illuminating the room. He walked over to the couch and rolled out his blankets to use. After settling in he heard a soft voice from across the room.

"Hey Kirito, are you still awake?" Asuna's soft voice carried across the silent room.

"Yeah, what's up?" Kirito replied. He honestly had no idea what she was about to bring up. Would it be about the murder or something else he wondered.

"Can you come join me?"

"Wha-? Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want you to." Asuna confirmed.

Blushing brightly, Kirito thought he was dreaming and pinched himself. Did she really just ask him? He was about to be in the same bed as a girl, and a very pretty one at that, he thought to himself.

In the real world he had never been in a relationship. Never held hands, or let alone kissed. As weird as it was for himself to admit, Kirito's first kiss had been with Asuna in _Aincrad_.

He slowly walked over to the bed, and nervously got in with an awkward motion. Noticing, Asuna decided to tease him.

"Oh come on, I'm not that repulsive." She said, trying to get a reaction out of him.

"Wha-oh no no, it's not that all." Kirito hastily replied.

Asuna just giggled. "I know, I'm just joking. Don't worry about it." And giggled some more.

Kirito turned to face her.

"So what's up? You know, sharing a bed with possible murderer, you better be careful Asuna." Kirito joked referring to their meeting in the forest earlier that morning.

Asuna giggled once more. Her voice went soft again. "I, I just...I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"I guess I just feel safer like this. I know we're in a room and no one else can get in without our permission and everything. But I'm still scared. Call me naive or whatever you want to call it, but to think that a player would do that to another player. To take a life like that. I thought that because we were all stuck here, all in Aincrad together, that it wouldn't happen. I guess I was wrong though."

"I know what you mean. That our common bond would be strong enough that this sort of thing wouldn't happen."

"Exactly. But people can be mean. They can be scary and unpredictable, even in this world."

"Human nature unfortunately won't change. If someone was evil in the real world, they'll be evil here too."

"We're still capable of so many other things. Incredible and wondrous things, even in this world. Even capable of escaping this place, no matter how daunting it may seem."

Kirito couldn't think of a reply before Asuna continued.

"Kirito, we will escape right? You think we can survive, right?"

"Yes."

"I want to see my parents. My brothers. I miss them a lot."

"I miss my sister and mother as well."

"What about your father?"

"He's not around anymore. He died when I was really little."

"Oh God, Kirito, I'm sorry I didn't mean to ask. I know I shouldn't ask about real life. It just-"

"It's fine. Don't worry about it." Kirito smiled and reassured her by reaching his hand over and placing it on her cheek.

"Kirito, can I tell you something else?"

"Of course. What is it?"

"Right here, right now. I don't feel scared. Not with you here. Even when we're fighting a boss, I get this reassuring feeling whenever you're around. I feel like everything will be alright, and nothing bad will happen to me because you're there."

Kirito didn't know what to say.

"But Kirito, you need to survive too, alright?"

"I will."

Asuna smiled and closed her eyes.

"Thanks for this, Kirito. You know, I think you can remember this night."

"I will then." Kirito smiled, confirming Asuna's permission.

The two peacefully fell asleep until morning.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Breakfast

 _25th February 2023. Aincrad, Floor 16,Florentine Inn, Eska. 08:00 AM, Aincrad Standard Time._

"Good morning, Kirito." Asuna said with a smile as she saw him wake up. She was just finishing equipping her gear.

"Good morning to you also." Despite their agreement to shove their feelings aside, Kirito couldn't deny it felt incredible to be waking up to Asuna's voice and glowing appearance.

"Thanks for last night. It was...nice. I'm going to get back to the Guild Hall. I have a meeting with the Commander, the other squad leaders, and Argo. I'll see you around." Asuna did a little goodbye wave and exited the room.

"Later Asuna."

"Last night changes nothing." Kirito thought to himself. Their decision was still in place.

* * *

"Argo, what have you gathered? We need to know everything, no matter the cost." Heathcliff demanded.

Heathcliff sat at a conference-like table with Asuna, Argo, and Godfree. The _KoB_ Guild Hall was formerly a mead hall on _Floor 10,_ which became available to purchase. Heathcliff ponied up the money and even converted parts of it to things like sleeping quarters for the _Knights._.

"Well, I may have narrowed the mechanic down behind this, as for a suspect or motive, that's still non-existent." Argo replied. Heathcliff looked troubled at her answer.

"What have you come up with for the mechanisms behind this? And where did the information come from? As for suspects there's still-"

Before Heathcliff could finish his sentence, he was cut off by searing looks from both Asuna and Argo.

"Right." He continued. "Argo, please tell us how this may have happened."

"My source thinks it has to due with the paralysis and poison mechanic. There's a chance someone could have gotten a unique skill or stronger poison from a quest at some point that allowed them to make a long lasting paralysis poison. If the duration of the paralysis was still valid upon death, there's a chance the affected thing would remain present for disappearing." Argo explained.

"Well that seems like a good idea!" Godfree interjected himself, agreeing with the logic Argo presented.

"I do agree with Godfree. However to confirm this, more experimentation would be needed. However, not one of us nor any of the _Knights_ possess this skill to make an 'upgraded' paralysis poison. Are there any ideas where it may have come from?" Heathcliff further inquired.

"Well, it certainly wasn't in the beta. We were able to document all the changes between the beta and the actual release through some scouring, and nothing like this came up. So it would have to be between _Floor 9_ and _Floor 16_ here." Argo continued.

"I see. Out of curiosity Argo, who is your source on this?" Heathcliff pressed.

"To tell you that would cost more money than exists in this damn game."

"Have it that way then." Heathcliff said disdainfully. "Squad Captain Asuna, you've been rather quiet thus far. What are your thoughts on this? I already know your conversation with the boy was unsatisfactory."

Asuna, who was lost in thought, suddenly snapped back to reality.

"Oh I-" Asuna began.

"Don't tell me you have zero thoughts on the matter." Heathcliff interrupted her, drawing another look from Argo.

"Well, I think we should give up on trying to find the person who did it." Asuna stated, causing Godfree to react.

"What? Are you crazy? Or do you just not understand the gravity what is going on? Commander, I told you. She's just girl, she wasn't ready for a leadership position so soon. She's too immature and-"

"Godfree, enough!" Heathcliff boomed, silencing Godfree. "Asuna, as you were. Why do you think we shouldn't expend any effort to find the murderer."

"Well sir," Asuna continued, trying to remain composed after Godfree's remarks. "The only trace of evidence was the note that can't be appraised properly to see the author."

"So you're saying that we have no actual way of tracking down the killer, outside of someone just tipping us off or someone admitting to it." Heathcliff confirmed.

"Yes."

"Sir, with respect there are still other ways we can find the killer. His status has probably flipped to orange or red, and should still be that color for another few days. He won't be allowed inside the cities, and can't traverse floors until the status flips back to green.. So he'll still be on _Floor 16_. We should search the none-safe zones attempting to find him." Godfree suggested.

"Well, I like that idea better than simply doing nothing. Godfree, take your squad and search every centimeter of that Floor. I'll have Yuuna continue her squad's clearing of the Labyrinth. Perhaps he's hiding somewhere in there as well. All of you are dismissed. Ms Squad Captain, I'll be in my quarters for the rest of the day. I am not to be disturbed. Thank you for your time Argo, here's your payment as promised. Dismissed." Heathcliff concluded.

"But sir, what about my-" Asuna tried to ask.

"Dismissed!" Heathcliff reiterated.

* * *

Heathcliff and Godfree left the conference hall, leaving only Asuna and Argo. Argo glanced towards Asuna.

"Are you alright?" She saw Asuna begin to breakdown into tears.

"No."

"Here." Argo moved over to comfort her.

"Why did he give me my position? He clearly thinks I'm not qualified for it." Asuna sobbed.

"The world works in mysterious ways. Besides, he's an ass. I'm only here because of the money discussed."

Asuna kind of giggled between the sobs. "Always business with you, isn't it?"

"Girl's gotta eat."

After some silence between the two, Asuna began to calm down. "Argo, I'm sorry. I'm weak to have let you seen that."

"Honey, no one expects you to make it through this world alone. Speaking of food, did you eat breakfast? I didn't and I'm starved."

"No, I woke up kind of late and immediately came here."

"Well, why don't we go get something? Courtesy of Heathcliff." Argo offered, holding up her most recent paycheck.

"That sounds nice." Asuna accepted, and the two exited the Guild Hall.

* * *

Asuna and Argo walked through town, trying to find a cafe or bakery for something sweet.

"You don't gain weight in this world!" Argo cheerfully stated, eyeing an assortment of parfaits and muffins on display in a store.

After being enticed, the two settled on _Alice's Baked Sweets_ and took a table. Before placing the order, Lis walked into the cafe.

"Oh, Lis!" Asuna raised her hand and waved.

"Hey!" Lis walked over and joined them, sitting next to Asuna.

As she sat down, a waitress took their order.

"Long time no see. Where's that guy at? Kain I think his name was?" Asuna greeted and asked.

"Oh, _Klein_? I decided to get breakfast by myself. Him and Egiru have become obsessive clearing the Labyrinth. I wanted a break. This is probably too much information, but him and I are kind of off right now." Lis said, a hint of sorrow in her voice.

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that." Argo confided. "But what do you mean by off? I thought you two had a thing going."

"Well, we tried to keep it private as much as possible, but It's obvious that really didn't pan out. But yeah, we didn't... I guess break up would be the term? I still love him very much but he's been busy lately I guess." Lis clarified.

"Wait you don't think he's cheating or anything, right?" Asuna said, ready to get angry depending on her answer.

"What? Oh no. He wouldn't do that. I mean ever since Egiru joined, the two have been addicted to combat. And as much as I want to fight and improve, evidently not as much as those two."

"I see." Said Argo. Asuna calmed down as well.

"I'm sorry, we haven't seen each other in a while. And we rarely talked anyway. This is probably too much to drop on you guys or ask y'all about.

"What? Oh don't worry about it. As far as I'm aware, we're all friends. What are we here for anyway?" Argo said with a smile, Asuna grinned and nodded in agreement as well.

"Thanks. I guess I just worry about him too much." Lis continued. "Him and I love each other, but I'm just scared for him. Because at the same time, I feel guilty for not being so combat oriented or driven like he is, because if the day ever came I would have to save him and I wasn't strong enough because I didn't practice enough, I...I don't think I could live with myself."

Asuna's thoughts immediately jumped to her and Kirito. Was theirs in fact the right decision? "Look at how it's affecting Lis and Klein" she thought to herself.

"I think, I'll have to play more of a supportive role for them though. I've taken up blacksmithing a bit. Nothing that i've made so far is comparable to what you could find on this floor, but I can at least repair Klein and Egiru's weapons and armor when needed." Lis suggested.

"I think that sounds perfect for you." Argo said with another smile. "Lis, it's not necessarily your job to keep him alive. It sounds like you two want different things out of the game. I'm sure he doesn't expect you to have to save him or anything. Klein wants to fight, and it's very valiant of him. But to help and support him, you don't need to be there fighting with him. You can just make parts of his fight easier doing as you said, blacksmithing for him. And of course providing companionship if you love him. I'm sure he won't be disappointed or let down if you just tell him you'd rather support him in other ways like you said."

"But what if you both want to fight?" Asuna thought to herself, attempting to find some advice in Argo's words.

"Thanks Argo, that really helps a lot. Although you know, Asuna I could ask you the same." Lis started with a sly grin. "Where's dark and brooding at?"

Asuna immediately snapped out of her thought process and blushed a hot shade of red. "Oh, Kirito?"

"Of course him, unless there's some other guy I don't know about…"

Argo simply sat back with an amused look on her face.

"Oh him and I uh, we were never together or anything. He's doing fine, I'm sure. I don't see him except for when it comes time to clear a boss, and even then we don't talk. He's still a solo player after all. And I'm so busy with Guild stuff…"

Argo's look turned to one of confusion. Asuna's statement contradicted what Argo had last known about them.

"Oh really?" Lis furthered her line of questioning. "I could have sworn you two were...oh well if you say so. I dunno though, you and him would be pretty cute together. I mean I haven't really talked to him, but from what I've seen of him and briefly speaking to him, he seemed like a decent guy. He actually uh, he saved Klein, myself, and one of our other friends back on _Floor 1_."

"He did?" Asuna asked. Argo sat up.

"Yeah. It was during an encounter with _Arana_. We were so inexperienced back then. My self, Klein, and two of his friends thought the four of us could handle the fight. We were sure wrong. If Kirito hadn't just happened to show up, there's a good chance we would all be dead."

"Wait, you mentioned there were four of you, but he only saved three. What happened?" Asuna asked.

"Well, as I said, there were two other people that Klein knew that we did the fight with. Soma and Haro. Soma got wounded during the fight and there was nothing that could be done. This was before the cure to _Arana's_ poison was discovered. And since then, Haro was pretty upset. Klein and I haven't seen him since a little bit past that battle. I don't know if Kirito blames himself for it or anything but it wasn't his fault. There was nothing he could have done. Like I said, if he didn't show up, we would all be dead."

Argo and Asuna's expressions both drooped.

"I...had no idea." Argo and Asuna both said.

"Oh no no, it's fine. I haven't really told anyone until now. I wasn't personally close to Haro or Soma. And as I said, Klein or I don't blame Kirito for anything. We're actually still quite grateful he saved us. I just hope he doesn't blame himself for anything." Lis folded her hands to her chest and smiled.

"Well, I'm glad you're still here with us." Argo said with another smile.

"Now back onto the subject matter, you and Kirito…" Lis directed the conversation back to Asuna.

"What more is there?" Asuna asked.

"I dunno you tell us…" Argo prodded.

"Him and I aren't together nor were we. I don't have time for a relationship or boyfriend or anything like that. My responsibilities to the Guild come first and foremost." Asuna said with a determinant tone and expression.

"Whatever you say." Argo and Lis teased.

"Alright Argo, what about you and Egiru? You seemed pretty close, especially around the holidays." Asuna put Argo into the spotlight.

"Oh, please don't get the wrong idea. We really are just friends. We played other games with each other before this one. He's married in the real world to another girl who didn't come to _Aincrad_ with him. He's incredibly thankful for that also. He couldn't imagine having to put his wife through what he describes as this hellish purgatory. It's just nice to have a familiar person around here."

"Oh I see." Asuna continued. "Are you married in the real world, Argo?" Asuna immediately cupped her hand to her mouth to cover it. "I'm so sorry Argo, I'm still getting used to not bringing up real world things in here."

"What? Oh no don't worry about it. We're friends here, I don't mind at all."

"Thanks."

"Anyway, to answer your question, no I'm not. I was never able to hold down a long term relationship. I find it more fun to play and tease with boys. Especially at my age-"

"Wait how old are you?" Lis blurted out.

"The ripe old age of twenty seven!" Argo enthusiastically replied.

Asuna and Lis both were shocked. You certainly couldn't guess it from Argo's mousey and petite appearance.

"Oh come on, you didn't think I was a teenager like you two, did you? It'd be creepy to hang around Egiru that much then..."

"What, oh no, I think we just thought you were a little bit younger." Asuna said.

"Hey! Hey! It's only twenty seven! I'm not that old!" Argo defended.

"Yeah, twenty seven years young!" Lis retorted.

"You're damn right!" Argo concurred.

The waitress returned with their order, and the three continued talking over their breakfast.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Purge

 _10th March 2023. Japan, Tokyo,RECT Progress 'SAO Project' Development Lab. 3:00 PM, Japan Standard Time._

"Doctor Sugou, what's the problem?" Shouzou Yuuki's voice boomed over the intercom in the lab. The metaphorical alarm bells were ringing off the walls. Logs of data were being rapidly written to servers, and people could be seen scrambling from workstation to workstation, attempting to control the madness. Alerts constantly buzzing indicating connection losses to _SAO_.

Nobuyuki Sugou scrambled to the receiver on the wall, and pressed the talk button. "Still determining, sir."

"I'm coming down there. Have a better answer for me by the time I arrive."

Shouzou Yuuki, the CEO of _RECT Progress_ was in a meeting when all hell seemingly broke loose. His phone constantly vibrating, eventually prompting him to check it. He was met with countless alerts of connection issues into _Sword Art Online_.

 _RECT Progress's_ headquarters dominated the Tokyo skyline. The massive fifty floor and 250 meter tall skyscraper was trumped only by the Toranomon Hills Tower. Shouzou's office was, of course, on the very top floor of the building, and rumor had it that Shouzou and whichever guest was staying in the hotel room on the top floor of Toranomon would wave to each other through telescope.

Shouzou experienced what was the longest elevator ride of his life, although he had made it many times before, his anxiety grew as he passed every floor.

* * *

Doctor Sugou greeted him with a polite bow as Shouzou exited the elevator.

"Now tell me, what is happening?" Shouzou demanded of Sugou.

"We've lost our individual monitoring systems. All of their connections dropped, virtually at the same time." Sugou said in a disturbingly calm and matter of factual tone.

"What else?"

"When the connections dropped, their error reporting triggered and looped. Our database could've handled the log dump of quite a few, but not all of them at once."

"Where do we stand then?"

"Right now, we are unable to individually monitor and log each player in real time, and our servers are currently at maximum storage capacity, so we are unable to store anything else for the time being until all the error files are cleared."

"Why?"

"Still unknown, sir. Apologies."

"Does the Ministry know?"

"Yes they do." Seijirou Kikuoka seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and joined the conversation.

"Ah, Mr. Kikuoka. Always a pleasure to see you here." A hint of contempt and disdain riddled Shouzou's voice when addressing Seijirou.

"Your head here has the situation well handled, I assure you." Seijirou reported. "Surely some sort of fail safe is in place, no?"

"Usually yes, but this is different. This isn't necessarily a program failing this is an almost simple loss of connection. The solution will be to power cycle and then attempt to reestablish a connection." Dr. Sugou responded confidently.

"Proceed." Shouzou ordered.

The trio walked over to Dr. Sugou's terminal. Sugou executed several programs as well as scripts. A command prompt window appeared on the monitor, rapidly scrolling through data as a script ran. Eventually error messages began appearing on the monitors once more. One message dominated the primary monitor, and shook Shouzou to his core.

" **External Connections Blocked** "

* * *

Shouzou sat in his office alone. The room was dark and silent, save for the light flow of air and the city lights of the Tokyo night now shining in.

Thoughts of Asuna were the only thing flowing through his mind. The one thing that had kept him sane through the past few months had been his ability to consistently monitor his daughter and all of the other players through their Hell. And now someone or something. Some _entity_ had taken that away from him. His illusion of power and control were shattered.

There was a knock on the door. So….backwards compared to the intercom system one would have to use to reach him in person from the office. However the old fashioned practice of knocking would be the only way someone could reach him now, having turned his cell phone off and in a fit of madness ordering the power cut to his floor.

"Sir," His secretary's muffled voice could be heard through his door. "Kyouko is here."

"Miss Kishima, please make sure a vehicle is ready for us. You may go home now. Thank you." The door unlocked and Shouzou was met with the view of Miss Kishima bowing before turning and exiting. Kyouko, his wife, merely stood in the doorway, her arms crossed. Her expression was no different than her resting neutral one. Both of them waited for Miss Kishima to fully depart on the elevator before speaking.

"How do I begin to explain…." Began Shouzou.

"You don't have to." Kyouko said, offering no embrace. "I happened to run in to Seijirou, who informed me of the situation. So is it really true? We can't-"

"Yes it is."

Kyouko's demeanor softened, wrapping her arms around her husband.

'What do you plan to do?"

"I don't know yet."


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Informant

 _13th March 2023. Aincrad, Floor 19, Ren'Alan Forest. 08:21 PM , Aincrad Standard Time._

Nothing but forest surrounded the city of Ren'Alan. As a result, the forest and all of its dangers would need to be conquered before any progress in the Labyrinth could be made.

Kirito could hear the clashing of weapons throughout the terrain, drowning out or silencing the natural nocturnal audio of the forest. Surprisingly enough, his journey thus far had been quite peaceful, only encountering a few minor beasts. Suddenly a human scream pierced the metallic sounds. Kirito felt some sort of instant stir within him, one reminiscent of the feeling he got when he heard Asuna from inside the labyrinth all those months ago. Much like he had before, he made haste towards the direction the scream had come from.

Racing and cutting through the brush, he arrived at a clearing displaying a scene where he could only assume the scream had originated from.

Upon him were five players, all knocked down by a group of Bolgs: hulking and horrifying bipedal creatures that somewhat resemble bears. Despite their weapons and techniques being incredibly primitive, they relied on their ferocity and physical stature to succeed in combat.

The players currently losing their battle were dressed in what appeared to be the basics of armor sets. Their weapons were nothing special either.

Kirito rushed in, parrying a Bolg's club before it delivered a killing blow to a player who had fallen to the ground. This Bolg happened to be low health, and upon noticing, Kirito delivered a sword combo killing the Bolg.

The other Bolgs, the remaining three, both stepped back several paces, and reset their stances, obviously surprised by Kirito's sudden entrance.

The same effect was had on the group of players, who took the opportunity to regroup. Intelligently, they sent the player who was almost killed in the back to safety.

"The four of you, follow my lead!" Kirito barked, before charging in.

He closed the gap between himself and group of Bolgs, the others were just behind him. Kirito channeled his speed into another combo against the lead Bolg, causing the creature to break defense, which allowed an opening for the group to attack. Once under sustained and coordinated attacks, Bolgs fell easily, and this one was no exception. Kirito and the players managed to use similar tactics to dispatch the remaining two creatures.

Once the final Bolg had fallen, Kirito sheathed his sword and turned to face the group. The injured member made their way to the group, walking over from the tree he had taken cover behind.

"Thank you so much for your help." A player from the group stepped forward, his arms pressed to his side, and his body stooped in a bow. The rest of the players all did the same.

"Thank you!" Their voices all matched to say.

Kirito didn't quite know to react, he tried to relax the situation putting his hands up, palms facing the group of players as if to say "Please stop."

"It's no problem, really." Kirito said, trying to get to a normal conversation.

"Well, sir," The leading player began, "you saved Tetsuo."

"Really it's not a big deal." Kirito further expressed.

The group exited their bowing positions. Once standing up and in full view of Kirito, he got a good look at them.

The group comprised of four guys and one girl. Two of the guys were quite short and both adorned beanie looking hats. The other two men were were of average height. One about the same as Kirito, the other a bit taller. Noticeably, the tallest of the group wore very distinct looking purple armor with gold accents. Finally, standing near the back of the group was the girl, who had hair in a lighter shade of black, and wore it just above her shoulders. Her face expressed a sense of uneasiness, and her eyes were sunken and somewhat drooped as a result. All of the players looked to be around Kirito's age.

The tallest one stepped forward, and extended a hand for Kirito to shake.

"Once again thanks for your help back there. I'm Keita and this is my guild."

Kirito met his hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Kirito."

The two short members ran up to Kirito almost like giddy children, once again expressing their gratitude. The other guy also moved towards Kirito, the girl however, stayed in place, keeping her distance from the group.

Kirito was showered with questions regarding things like his fighting style and equipment. After what seemed around an hour of conversing, Keita finally relented.

"Well, I appreciate you saving us. I think we've learned our lesson. Maybe we'll see you around."

"It was nice meeting you all." Kirito replied. "Just try to not exceed your boundaries."

"Right. I won't let this happen again." Keita assured him.

Kirito continued the direction he was originally headed before having he had detoured.

* * *

 _16th March 2023. Aincrad, Floor 19,, Ren'Alan City, Shal'Aran Park. 07:00 AM , Aincrad Standard Time._

Kirito was up very early for his standards, but this time it was of his own accord. Argo had asked for a meeting which he willingly accepted. It was in a surprisingly public place, a deviation from where Argo would usually like to meet. Whatever her reasons were, Kirito was always interested in whatever info Argo would have for him.

He arrived at the designated meeting spot, and he saw two figures in the distance. One was immensely smaller than the other, so Kirito figured that Argo must have brought Egiru with her. Once the figures arrived, Kirito's reasoning was confirmed.

"Good to see you again." Egiru warmly greeted Kirito with a hand shake.

"You as well." Kirito reciprocated.

"Any more additions?" Kirito asked Argo.

"Yes, one, possibly two more." She replied.

"Right. We'll wait for them then." Egiru confirmed.

After about fifteen minutes of waiting, the trio saw a figure sprinting in the distance towards their direction. As the figure drew closer, Kirito began to recognize who it was.

Them lateness, the clumsy run, and of course the headband flowing in the wind.

"Sorry I'm late!" Klein shouted as he drew within earshot. He stopped reached the group and bent over putting his hands on his knees, catching his breath. "Man, 7 in the AM is way too early to do these things." Klein stated.

"Suck it up." Argo said, a tinge of seriousness hung over her normally teasing tone. "I was up all night for the information I'm about to tell you."

"Fine fine. So what's the hot take?" Klein asked, his breath finally slowing.

"Is your plus one showing up?" Argo inquired to Klein.

"No, she's still in bed. Lucky her." Klein replied.

"Whatever. She'll find out eventually I'm sure." Argo concluded.

"Alright Argo, so what is it?" Egiru asked, wanting to get the meeting started.

"Right. Wel-" Argo was cutoff.

"Wait, how much will this cost us?" Kirito asked. He couldn't help but try to humor the situation.

The sternest look Kirito had ever seen Argo with came over her. "Depends on how much I get interupted." Argo snapped back. Kirito now realized that whatever Argo was about to tell them would be serious.

"As I was saying." Argo continued. "Another player has been murdered. Strikingly similar way to the first one."

"When did this happen?" Egiru asked.

"As far as I know, it was within the last two days, in the forests around Ren'Alan here. Well outside the city safe zone. A _Knights_ squad captain discovered the corpse this time. She was pretty freaked out."

Kirito's brow raised. Was it Asuna that stumbled across the scene?

"Before you ask boy, it wasn't her." Argo directed towards Kirito, as if she could read his thoughts. "Anyhow, the _Knights_ are keeping this under wraps. They're now starting to fear a serial is going around. Luckily, none of you are accused this time around." Argo once again directed that statement towards Kirito, as Egiru and Klein both had looks of perplexion.

"How do you know this, Argo? I know not to question your sources but if they want this quiet, how did this slip out to you?"

"Let's just say I know someone fairly well in the _Knights_. They specifically requested that you three know about this. They fear one one of you or someone close to you will be targeted." Argo explained.

It didn't take much for Kirito to connect the dots. He reasoned Asuna must be the one who relayed this to Argo. She was the only one in the _Knights_ he could think of who would want to inform everyone here.

"And the last part, which is the kicker, the corpse is still present."

Looks of shock adorned Klein, Kirito, and Egiru's faces.

"How?" Klein quickly asked.

"They're not sure. Keep in mind they're not even one hundred percent sure how the first one remained. But as of three this morning, the corpse was still in _Aincrad_."

"Is the damage still displayed on the body?" Egiru asked.

"My contact says yes. The only injury observed was a stab wound to the heart. They said it must have come from the front, because there was no exit on the back. And judging by the size, it appears only a dagger was used." Argo further added.

"What level was the player?" Kirito asked. He figured it'd be hard for a high level player to succumb to a singular stab wound in general, let alone one form a dagger.

"Unknown. The body surprisingly has an info window, but it just reads "Player Corpse". No player name, no level, no nothing." Argo responded.

"What about the gear on the player?" Egiru inquired. Perhaps through any gear present they could deduce how strong the player was.

"The body was stripped clean. She was found with literally nothing except for a piece of paper with a drawing of a laughing face on it. That's right, I never mentioned it. The victim is a woman." Argo answered and added.

The more horrifying thoughts of that implication all crossed everyone's mind, their expressions reflected such.

"Why did your contact want us three to know?" Klein asked.

"Well, you and Egiru aren't necessarily prominent, but you're somewhat known. You've consistently been part of the clearing teams, so your gear is probably up there in terms of quality, I would assume. Plus your presence is known. One would only need to observe who was in the clearing teams to figure out who would have an above average worth. And let's not talk about the boy here. Kirito, every time I see you you get better and better equipment. You're effectively a walking loot pinata."

The group laughed at Argo's remark, as it certainly eased the atmosphere a bit.

"What can I say, my man here has been on that grind!" Klein slapped Kirito on the back and laughed.

"Is there anything else you know, Argo?" Kirito wanted to further the conversation.

"Outside of my contact wishing you all well and to watch your backs, as well as the ones you love, no. You all got someone you need to protect, and vice versa. Someone protects you as well, whether you know it or not." Argo concluded.

"Argo, you should watch yourself as well." Egiru added. "You may not have expensive gear, but you're certainly up there in the rankings for data brokerage."

"Heh, they could never catch me." Argo retorted. "You all take care. I declare this meeting officially over. And it's not just my contact wishing you all well. I do as well. So please, I want you all to watch out with this. And obviously don't let this spread among the masses."

The group went their separate ways, save for Klein and Egiru who would go to wake up Lis and get to the labyrinth for the day .


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Psychopathy

 _22nd March 2023. Aincrad, Floor 10,,Knights Guild Hall,. 09:00 AM , Aincrad Standard Time._

"Kuradeel, what have you found?" Heathcliff calmly asked as Kuradeel opened the doors to guild master's office. Kuradeel waited until he was in conversational distance before replying. Once the gap was closed, Kuradeel took a seat in the chair in front of Heathcliff, and let out a heavy sigh before answering.

"Nothing, sir." Kuradeel begrudgingly answered.

Heathcliff's face remained expressionless.

"What do you mean nothing?"

"As in, my squad and I were unable to find any leads as to who the killer would be. And unless you want to order another failed manhunt, then there's no going anywhere with this." Contempt and frustration underlaid Kuradeel's conclusion.

"You aren't your normal self. Are you alright?"

"With respect sir, this investigation was useless. It shouldn't have been conducted after the first victim got us so many places."

"Do you understand what is at stake here?"

"Perhaps not."

"Allow me to clarify." Heathcliff began. "The first case can be brushed off of as an accident or a one time act. This one is different. While we still have the advantage of the populace not knowing, the system still works. That is, people only have to worry about one thing: escape. Their lives are much simpler without having to worry about a serial murderer on the loose." Heathcliff explained.

"I understand that sir. That's not what I was getting at. I'm implying that it's pointless to waste manpower when we already knew that the capability exists to be untraceable."

"I suppose that's a fair point." Heathcliff conceded. "Kuradeel, I apologize for asking you to do that. But please understand, that you acted upon one single glimmer of hope. The hope that maybe, just maybe, in committing this heinous act, the psychopath made a mistake and we would be left with something."

"Thank you, sir,"

"Anything else, sir?"

"No Kuradeel, thank you for your efforts. Please link up with Godfree's squad and aid in the labyrinth raiding. Mine and Asuna's squad will be joining you shortly."

"As you wish. If I may ask, what is Yuuna doing?"

"Her and her squad are taking a vacation of sorts. She was rather shaken up after her discovery. She'll be back by the time we reach the boss."

"Understood sir."

* * *

 _22nd March 2023. Aincrad, Floor 20, Labyrinth, 11:00 PM , Aincrad Standard Time._

Kirito sheathed his sword after defeating a sequence of enemies. He reckoned he was getting close to the boss room, as the lethality of enemies were starting to increase. Just as he sheathed his sword, a menu window popped up.

 _ **Congratulations!**_

 _ **Item Drop:**_ " **Elucidator +6+"**

"Whoa…" Kirito thought to himself, examining the sword's stats. "Yup, even more of a loot pinata now." Kirito swiftly exited the labyrinth.

Once outside Kirito thought of what he needed to do next. To confirm something, he would need to get the _Elucidator_ appraised. Who did he know that could maybe keep a secret and had an item appraisal skill?

Kirito immediately thought of ways to get to Argo. The lack of her being on any friends list meant that she would for the most part have to find you. Kirito quickly returned to town. Until the nature of the sword could be confirmed, he made the decision to remain in the city safezone.

* * *

"Hey buddy!"

Kirito felt a hand clasp his left shoulder from behind. Kirito jolted to his feet and turned around, ready to draw his sword.

"Whoa whoa." Klein put his hands up as Kirito eased up.

"Sorry, Klein."

"What's got you all jumpy? And besides, you know we're in a safe zone, right?" Klein attempted to reason.

"Sorry. Yeah yeah I know. Let's just say it was habit. What are you out doing?" Kirito asked, trying to shift the conversation from the rather awkward exchange.

"I could ask you the same thing." Klein retorted.

"I asked first." Kirito countered.

"Fair enough. I was just kind of taking a walk. Couldn't really sleep." Klein answered.

"Everything alright?"

"Well, besides the fact we're stuck in a death game for as of right now an indefinite amount of time, yeah I suppose things are going alright. How about you?"

"I just got back from clearing, and it is kind of a nice night out so I figured I might enjoy it before heading in."

"Kirito, I thought you mostly cleared at night?"

"Wha- oh yeah I suppose I do. But I guess my schedule has been messed up or something. Yeah." Kirito stumbled through his words. He was not expecting such a "gotcha" from Klein.

"Uh huh...And you're so jumpy..What's goin on? C'mon you can tell me."

"I guess you got me. Take a look." Kirito surrendered and opened his menu, producing his newly acquired piece of loot and showed it to Klein.\

"Kirito...where did you get this?" Klein asked with a look of awe.

"It was a drop form the labyrinth."

"Well yeah, I got that much. But did you have to do anything special?"

"No, it was off a seemingly random monster. Say, what type of enemies have you been encountering in the labyrinth?"

"Mostly Beasts or Hybrids, why do you ask?"

"Hmm." Kirito put his hand to his chin. "Come to think, it dropped off of a 'Demon' type creature."

"Anything special about it?"

"Again not necessarily no. He fought a little bit smarter than what I had encountered so far but that could just be because he was a couple of levels higher though."

"So it really was ordinary then."

"That's the beauty of MMOs I guess." Kirito tried to conclude.

"What do you mean?"

"Loot drops can be somewhat unexpected. Like in other games, you killed a wolf and a pair of pants would drop."

"Was that really a thing?"

"Sorry, I forgot this was your first. Yeah, it was kind of funny but it became somewhat of a common trope."

"Hmmm. Ya know, sometimes I forget we're in a game."

"Can't blame you there."

"Say Kirito, what does that other plus mean?"

"Well that's kind of why I was here. I was hoping that if I was out in an open place, a bench like this in the city square, maybe Argo would stop by for a chat. Because I have no idea, and was hoping she would know."

"Is she not on your friends list?"

"No. Is she on yours?"

"No."

The two sat in silence. And after a few minutes, their wishes were answered.

"Oh no. This isn't good. What happened?" A small woman's voice came from behind where Klein and Kirito sat. They both turned around and their faces lit up with a smile as they said:

"ARGO!"

"Whoa. The last time two people were that excited to see me was...nevermind. But point still stands. Why are you two sitting out here...this is so off your schedules." Argo remarked.

"Schedules?" Klein asked.

"Yeah. You two both operate on a fairly set daily routine. Makes it easy to track you down even if I've been running around."

"You know, I have several questions, but Kirito has one big one for you, so I'm gonna let him go first."

"Always the gentleman, Klein." Argo remarked. "So boy," Argo turned her attention to Kirito. "What is it?"

"Well, take a look for yourself." Once again Kirito produced his newly found sword, and as expected, Argo was taken back.

"Kirito, where did you get this? How much was this?" Argo inquired, motioning to put the sword away.

"The price was my effort to kill a Demon type in the labyrinth. And nothing special about it. It was more or less like any other enemy."

"MMOs I guess, amirite?"

Kirito chuckled. "So the one question I, or we rather have now is what does the additional 'plus' mean at the end of it? We were hoping you would know."

"Well you're in luck. I happen to know just what it means…." Argo said with a teasing tone of voice, indicating one thing.

Kirito let out a sigh. "How much will it cost?"

"I was actually joking that time. I don't want to ruin your high from having that dropped. But tips are always appreciated." Argo winked.

"Thanks."

"Right, so the additional plus means that it's a scaling weapon. The brokers estimate there are very few of them in the loot tables. And their drop chance is minimal. This is definitely the first one I've seen or heard about actually coming to fruition. And it is very strong. You understand what I mean by scaling, right? Kirito you'll probably never need to buy or use another weapon ever again. Let me see more of its stats?"

"For sure." Kirito reproduced the sword and gave it to Argo.

"The stats are maxed out for your level. And as I said it's scaling. Once you tick up, the stats will increase more to match. This will always have the stats of the best one-handed sword possible. Talk about a target though…"

Klein and Kirito's faces both faded from excitement over Argo's explanation.

"She's right Kirito. If people found out about the abilities of this sword, then if you're at all concerned about a target on your back, this just multiplied it." Klein agreed and added.

"Have you shown or told this to anyone else?" Argo asked.

"No. You two are the firsts and only." Kirito assured.

"Good. You should keep it like that. I'm not saying you shouldn't use it, but I wouldn't be blabbering on about the stats to anyone. People will have a low chance of recognising what exactly it is. Scaling weapons aren't exactly common knowledge." Argo suggested.

"That may be true, but people will see me using the same sword from boss to boss. They'll start to get suspicious." Kirito said.

"That's a good point. Well, come up with a good excuse I guess. But it's up to you. I would be careful about the attention that could attract eventually then. If I were you I'd rent an inn room for the night and try it out." Klein suggested.

"I think I might do that. Thanks for your help Argo, and good to see you Klein." Kirito went off towards the urban part of town.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Decimation

 _8th April 2023. Aincrad, Floor 22, Friede City, 09:00 PM , Aincrad Standard Time._

"Oh, sorry about that." Kirito addressed a girl next to him in the alchemist shop, accidentally bumping her with his elbow.

She turned her head to him before saying "No problem." With a smile. Kirito thought she looked familiar, but couldn't quite put his finger on where he might have encountered her before.

"Hey, I'm sorry to bother you," the girl once again turned towards Kirito, "but do you know what this potion might do? I can't seem to pull up an info menu through the display glass." She asked him, pointing to a bright pink colored potion on exhibit for sale.

"That one?" Kirito confirmed. "Oh that one is useless."

"Why is that? It's so pretty though, surely it's useful somehow?"

"It's a charisma potion. But it does nothing as there's no 'charisma' stat in game, so it's pretty much useless. If I had to guess, maybe it's a leftover from an earlier build of the game."

"That would make sense. Thanks!" The girl once again said with a smile. The essence of familiarity still lingered with Kirito, but just couldn't quite remember. He shrugged the feeling off, and departed the alchemist shop empty handed.

 _9th April 2023. Aincrad, Floor 22, Labyrinth, 12:00 PM , Aincrad Standard Time._

"Here we go once again." Egiru left his guild mates conversation in order to go talk to Kirito, who was by himself.

"Good to see you, Egiru. I see the guild has been recruiting." Kirito pointed to the unfamiliar faces now a part of Klein's guild.

"You could say that. They're decent people. Klein says they remind him a lot of his old friends."

"That's good."

"Wait, Kirito, you're by yourself. Won't the system bar you from accessing the boss room unless you're in a party? I would invite you to our sbut we got a full house now…"

"Not any more. At some point, when the system changed to allow up 96 players into a boss room, it removed the restriction."

"I see. Aren't you at all nervous?"

"Nah. I almost prefer it this way. Now, I only have to worry about my self."

"Fair enough. Well party mate or not, just know that we at least have your back out there."

"Thanks!" Kirito and Egiru bumped fists before Egiru returned to his guild.

Kirito looked around from the back of the crowd. The guild color coordination made it easy to see who brought what. The _Knights_ were there in full force, with Kuradeel, Godfree, Yuuna, Heathcliff, and of course Asuna each leading their squads of five other people.

Kirito turned to the opposite side that the _Knights_ were standing on, and saw that _Aincrad Liberation_ _Squad_ had brought a similar number to the _Knights_. The only member Kirito could recognize was Kibaou. The rest wore helmets that obstructed their features.

Among the two primary guilds, a smattering of smaller guilds adorned the crowd as well. And then there was Kirito.

* * *

Heathcliff turned around from the front of the crowd, as if to take roll, before motioning to Kibaou to open the door to the boss room. The clearing team moved in. Once every player was inside, the door shut behind them, as was customary for the bosses.

After idling for around fifteen seconds, the clearing team began to feel something was off. The boss room was still shrouded in almost complete darkness. The players could just barely make out who was a few feet in front of them. For some odd reason, the torch sconces hadn't automatically lit up in the boss room, as had been the case with the previous bosses.

After a minute of nothingness, an _Aincrad Liberation_ member piped up.

"Is it...glitched?" He asked.

"Possibly. Hey! Someone in the back! Check the door!" Another player commanded. Kirito was still in the back of the pack, so he obliged.

Pushing on the door, he got nowhere besides the sound of the door itself jamming against its lock.

"Won't move!" Kirito shouted back.

"What the hell!?" Another player seemed to ask, clearly expressing his frustration with the cluelessness.

"What do we do, Commander?" A _Knight_ from Heathcliff's squad asked him.

"We wait. I'm sure the system will correct itself sooner or later." Heathcliff replied.

"I hope someone brought lunch!" Klein shouted, trying to make humor of the situation. He elicited a few giggles.

After another thirty minutes of no action and still shrouded in complete darkness, the team became lax. Some members sat down on the ground, others seemed as though they were trying to catch a nap.

00000

Another thirty minutes passed, when all of a sudden a chill could be felt blanketing the room. The sudden drop in temperature made everyone rise to their feet and get ready, for _something_ was coming.

The boss room became deathly silent. When suddenly….

 _*Shhhhhhhunk!*_ A horrifying noise of blade connecting to flesh and bone echoed across the room, coupled with a brief glimmer of a suddenly shining scythe could be seen in a flash of light from the front of the room. At the same time, the torches around the room illuminated the darkness, revealing a horrible sight.

The headless body of the Tank from Yuuna's squad stood motionless briefly, before collapsing to the ground, as his head rolled across another one his squadmates boots. Once the head stopped moving, the parts of the player dissipated into the infamous ash. A look of shock and horror began to infect the clearing team's faces.

The clearing team's foe was illuminated, and their HUDs populated.

A massive hooded figure now stood before them. It was wearing nothing but a black cloak, with its bare skeletal wrists and fingers protruding out to hold its massive scythe, whose blade almost looked as though it was dancing in the torch light. The boss was also managing to levitate a few feet off the ground.

" _ **Grim"**_

Not affording the time to react to the horrifying execution, the players rushed into battle. Godfree's squad took the place of Yuuna's in order to compensate for the now lack of a Tank role being occupied by the squad.

Players could be seen charging _Grim_ , yet it appeared as though their attacks literally went right through the creature.

After a flurry of unsuccesful attacks, Klein reprieved before shouting "How the hell are we supposed to kill this thing!?" Over the crowd.

The boss was deadly with its scythe, easily killing off those unlucky enough to be hit with a single strike directly to their bodies. Only the shield wielding tanks stood a chance at withstanding its attacks. Their keeping of the creature's attention was crucial to the preservation of life. The tank's mistakes had cost the lives of ten other additional players so far. The errors were deadly, and their margin, non-existent. The clearing team would need to play their cards perfectly.

After a period of minimal damage being done to the boss, Heathcliff used an ability to grab the attention of the creature. Once its gaze turned to him, he led the boss to the edge of the room, up close to the torch light.

"Everyone! Attack now!" Heathcliff boomed over the battle.

The slew of damage dealing players all rushed in landing strikes from behind. The boss's health began to drop as though it were free falling, before stopping at the fifty percent mark. Despite being in the torch light, the creature became immune to damage once more.

The boss furiously whipped around, facing the string of players who were just attacking. Its eyes were now set ablaze, their red fire could be seen under the cloak's hood now, but curiously no other part of the creature's skull was illuminated.

After witnessing this transformation, the damagers attempted to pull range between them and the boss. The twenty slowest moving players were killed almost instantly by a massively wide scythe strike, gashing the spines and chests of the players who weren't in time to get out of the way, screaming as their HP fell to zero. The now lifeless bodies stayed standing up before dissipating into the ash.

The squads all called for a regroup, but almost immediately after landing the strike, the boss's scythe ignited into a fiery blaze, matching his eyes. Suddenly , the cracks and crevices of the ground began to subtly glow. Before any player could catch their breath or realize what was about to happen, portions of the ground became immolated in fire. A disgusting smell of burning flesh and smoke began to fill the air, as it was accompanied by the screams of the players now damned to die in the blaze. Some souls attempted to escape the flames but the hellish fire drained their HP too fast. Any player unlucky enough to get caught in the fire was killed.

A canal of non fiery stone was left in the center. Kirito was lucky enough to have just happened to backoff towards this portion before the attack hit. The boss was still standing before them, but cloaked in impassable fire as if he was channeling some sort of spell that was immolating the room. The columns of fire began to make Kirito sweat. He could feel his adrenaline surge, and his pupils seemed to dilate. His breaths became more rapid as those around him burned.

"Asuna...Klein...Egiru...Lis..." Kirito thought, tried to make out if they had survived the attack, frantically searching about. His eyes became teary and blurred as the smoke began to cloud. "Please, where are you?" Kirito thought and attempted to speak but the smoke was now filling his lungs and throat, rendering speech impossible. Kirito was only able to remain just on his knees as the fire continued.

Eventually the fire ceased, and Kirito's senses returned to him. In front of himself, he saw the other survivors regain their bearings as well. Immediately he scanned for Asuna. She was one of the players now closest to the boss, struggling to get up. Any attempts she made to recover resulted in her collapsing to the ground once more. Near Asuna, Kirito could make out Lis, who was soundly unconscious. Across from them were Heathcliff and the remnants of the other _Knights_ who survived, as well as Klein, Egiru, and their surviving guildmates.

The cloak of fire began to dissipate from the creature's form now. Kirito readied his sword, and began charging forward. As the distance between him and the boss closed, he saw the creature ready a strike. All of a sudden Heathcliff stepped into Kirito's path and without warning unleashed a shield bash that physically pushed the creature into the torchlight.

Almost immediately after the shield bash, Kirito connected. His blazing anger and fear were channeled into every swing. Kirito could feel himself pushing further and faster than he had before. He began to prepare himself to move back from the boss after his combo was over. After landing the fourth strike, what should have been the last in the sequence, Kirito felt a rush come over him. Some sudden compulsion to keep going. He swung once more, and one more time after that.

Kirito's furious series of six strikes fell the creature. He landed on his feet and sheathed his sword.

The compulsory congratulatory note and last hit bonus prompted Kirito but he ignored it. The room seemed to go empty. As the adrenaline began to leave Kirito, he felt like he was the only person in the room, and it was completely silent.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Pierced the silence. Kirito bellowed a furious shout, as if the rage and fear escaped him. His breaths increased once more, before slowing after a few minutes.

No one dared to move or speak, as the aftermath of the massacre began to settle in everyone's minds. His mind dreading the thought, Kirito looked around to take count. Heathcliff and all of his squadmates somehow managed to survive. Godfree and Kuradeel's squads both only had two other members survive. He looked over towards the exhausted Yuuna. She managed to keep three, but Asuna's was completely wiped out. Kirito shifted his gaze to Klein who was now trying to rouse Lis. The entire secondary squad from Klein's guild was killed, leaving only the three others in Klein, Lis, and Egiru's squad remaining. Another portion of the room, a smattering of _Aincrad_ _Liberation_ members including Kibaou remained.

And that was all who was left. _Grim_ had completely annihilated all of the smaller guilds that had their full membership in attendance.

Still no one spoke, as if still processing what had happened.

"What the hell!? There's not supposed to be magic in _Aincrad!_ " A _Liberation Squad_ player shouted in frustration. Once again the room became silent.

* * *

After sitting in silence, Kirito got to his feet, and quietly walked over to Asuna, who was still on the ground but slowly recovering.

Kirito kneeled down next to her. She didn't seem to acknowledge him at first. He reached out to touch her shoulder. As soon as he made physical contact, her head slowly turned towards him, her breaths began speeding up. Their eyes met, Kirito could see an expression of pain and sorrow in hers. She could still see anger and fear in his.

"Please! Get away from me! Please ju-just go!" Asuna all of a sudden shouted at Kirito. The scene caused some heads to turn, but just as soon as they looked people were back to their own business and coping.

After the outburst, Kirito still sat next to her, motionless. A little while passed, Asuna turned to look at him once more.

"I'm-I'm sorry." She apologized for the outburst.

"It's alright. I understand." Replied Kirito. He could begin to see tears well in her eyes.

Kirito wrapped his arms around Asuna as she began to sob. He nestled her head into his shoulder, and placed a hand on the back of her head, slowly stroking her hair.

"Asuna, I'm so happy you survived." Kirito tried to console her.

"Kirito, I...I failed them. All of them. They're all dead because of me." She became more upset after saying this.

"It's not your fault, Asuna. There was no way to know."

"How did other players in the guild survive then? I'm the only one who lost everyone...I did something wrong. I must 's no other way…"

"It was luck. That's all it was. We're all here because of luck."

"You think so?"

"That's the only way. We're just lucky."

After a period of silence, Asuna lifted her head up, looking around the now vacant room. "Where have the others gone?"

In their embrace, they hadn't noticed the others begin to leave, and it wasn't just them in the dimly lit room.

"Most likely going off to recover. Will you be ok?"

"Yeah. I should go to the guild hall. Face any consequences."

"Asuna, you'll be ok. Don't worry about it."

Before Asuna got up, she pressed her head to Kirito's chest. "Kirito, you should take a break."

"Maybe I will. I don't know what I'm going to do next. You should take a break also."

Something resembling a grin made its way onto Asuna's expression. "I would if I could."


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31: A New Beginning

 _11th April 2023. Aincrad, Floor 15, Synethia Inn, 09:00 PM , Aincrad Standard Time._

"And here's to tonight's savior! Kirito!' Keita raised a glass of ale towards Kirito, and all of his guildmates save for one replicated the action. After the glasses were raised, everyone took a hearty swig.

Kirito just sat awkwardly at the end of the table having a feeling reminiscent of what it's like having _Happy Birthday_ sung to you.

"Uhhh, thanks guys but really, it wasn't a problem. I think you're making too big of a deal…"

"Nonsense!" Tetsuo interrupted Kirito. "Without you, we would have been totally screwed. Thanks so much for your help. You must be pretty powerful. How much stronger are you than us?"

"Oh, not that much.." Kirito quickly glanced up at Tetsuo's level.

" _ **Level 20"**_

"Not that much. I'm around the same level as you guys." Kirito thought it best to conceal his actual level. He wasn't in the mood to carry other players through high level content.

"Really?" Tetsuo confirmed. "You can be that skillful even at our level? Looks like we have a lot still to learn!" Tetsuo looked back at his fellow guild mates.

"Say," Kirito began addressing Keita. "I never caught all of your guys' names."

"Well," Keita began, "I myself am Keita, and this is my guild, _The Moonlit Black Cats_. Or _MBC_ for short. The rather excited one is Tetsuo, and this is Sasamaru."

"Nice to meet you!" Sasamaru extended a hand for Kirito to shake. Sasamaru was of average height, and wore a green and white striped outfit.

"The shorty here is Ducker, and he's somewhat sly. But you shouldn't have to worry about him." Keita continued with the introductions.

"Nice to meet you as well, mister Kirito!" Ducker, dressed in a subdued orange outfit wore a beanie concealing dark black hair that was contrasted by light blue eyes. Keita wasn't lying when describing him as short, as Drucker was significantly shorter, even compared to the girl Keita was about to introduce.

"And finally," Keita began, "the shy one here is Sachi." When saying her name, Keita placed a friendly hand on her shoulder. Sachi's expression briefly changed to one of discomfort at the gesture, before forming into something resembling a smile, as she raised a quiet wave.

"Well, nice to meet you all. I'm Kirito, just to formally introduce myself." The _MBC_ members all took their seats at the sides of the table, except for Sachi who remained standing at the opposite end.

Kirito managed to get a better look at Sachi. An immediate feeling of recognition overtook him. "The alchemist shop and...that forest!" Kirito thought to himself.

"Say, were you guys struggling in a forest, a couple of months ago?" Kirito inquired.

"What? Yeah I guess we were. Until another generous player came by and helped us out." Tetsuo answered.

"Well in that case, I think we've met before." Kirito proclaimed.

"Really? That was you as well?" Keita confirmed. "Well, I guess this is the second time you've saved our butts. We can't thank you enough."

"Ahh, don't worry about it. I can't stand to see people die in front of me." Kirito reassured Keita.

The conversation between Kirito and the rest of the _MBC_ continued on. Mostly smaller talk, just getting to know each other. Kirito made up parts of his backstory to help conceal his true level and identity.

* * *

By the end of the night, some of the _MBC_ were feeling somewhat tipsy from the ale. Kirito had at least managed to learn that the _MBC_ all knew each other in the real world, as they had made up their high school's computer club in Nakatsu, a comparatively smaller city on Japan's Kyushu island.

"Say Kirito, I would like to formally extend an invitation for you to join the _MBC_. I think you would be a great fit for us. We seem to get along quite well. We've been looking to up our combat capabilities, and I think you could help us out with that, if you'd be so inclined." Keita asked as the night was concluding.

"Uhhhh…" Kirito gave a blank answer. Somehow, he wasn't expecting this question. "I uhhh-"

"There's no pressure. If not, I'm sure we'd all understand." Keita tried to throw Kirito a lifeline.

"I uhhh….sure. I will join. Thank you for the invitation." Kirito caved. His thoughts immediately went to "What? What did you just agree to?" Before they were taken over by this feeling of obligation. For whatever reason, Kirito felt inclined to protect these people, they seemed to have placed their trust in him. "And besides, this is something new for a change." Kirito finally thought to himself before formally accepting the invitation with the menu.

"Well Kirito, we would all like to welcome you to the _MBC!_ Welcome aboard!" Keita exclaimed. The rest of the guild members extended their welcomes as well, and Sachi had the biggest smile Kirito had ever seen on her.

"We just plan to stay at this inn tonight, and we'll decide what to do tomorrow in the morning. Sound good?" Keita asked.

"Yup, sounds fine." Kirito agreed.

* * *

After an hour more of reveling, the members of the _MBC_ retreated to their respective rooms, except for Sachi and Kirito, who were sat opposite one another. Kirito's glass of tea was still quite full. The room was empty except for them. The oppressive silence was finally broken by Kirito.

"What roles in combat do you guys have?" Kirito tried to innocently inquire.

"Huh?" A puzzled look overcame Sachi's face, it seemed like she had just been called back to Earth from Kirito's question.

"As in, who does the tanking, the primary damage, you know." Kirito further clarified.

"Oh well, I guess it depends." Began Sachi. "It really depends on who wants to do what that day, I suppose."

"That'll never work. You will never be successful like that."

"I-I'm sorry?"

"No, it's Keita's responsibility. Consistency and learning roles is important. Whoever commits to what needs to let that role become their life. Their gear, their style, everything."

"Even personality?"

"Hmmm…"

"I guess we never thought of it like that. Why do you think that needs to be the case? It is a video game after all. People should be able to play how they want, when they want."

Kirito's clench on his tea glass grew tighter as he felt a brief swell of anger at Sachi's comment. "For being just a game, it just slaughtered dozens of people…" Kirito thought to himself. He calmed down just as quick as the feeling of anger came about.

"I've seen it work. That's why." Kirito answered Sachi's question. "The right player with the right gear, the right attitude, in the right place makes all the difference...most of the time." Kirito felt forced to asterisk that statement. "It's not like anyone was playing their roles wrong fighting the other day…" he thought to himself.

"I guess w-we just never considered how dedicated you have to be."

Kirito saw Sachi's expression shift to one of guilt. As if she were being lectured. "I'm sorry, I don't want it to sound like I'm blaming you or anything. It's wrong for me to have just joined and begin trying to upend things."

"W-What? Oh no it's fine." Sachi forced a smile. "I'm sure Keita and the others will appreciate all the suggestions you have. You certainly seem to be knowledgeable. But you're not super high level, you're like us, yet you have all these ideas and suggestions...You should really bring them up tomorrow when we go to train."

"Thanks, I plan to. Actually wait, it'd be better if you brought it up."

"M-Me?!" Sachi's expression quickly turned to one of shyness. "Why me?!"

"Heh, that's the most animated I've seen you all night. But I just joined. It may come off as imposing if I try to bring such a suggestion. It would probably be taken better by the others if you suggested it."

"O-Ok. I-I am not sure how to say it."

"Just bring it up casually."

"O-Ok. I'll try it."

"Thank you."

"Well with that, I'm going to sleep. When do you plan on turning in? I can walk you up if you want to now?"

"Thanks. But I'm not sure yet. I'm not really tired. Good night, Sachi."

"Good night, Kirito."

Kirito watched her go up the stairs of the inn. He was left alone. He stared down at the light reflecting in his tea.

"I would if I could." Kirito thought to himself.

Floor 23 awaited.

 _12th April 2023. Aincrad, Floor 23, Kosaten Field, 01:00 AM , Aincrad Standard Time._

Klein noticed a flurry of sword strikes shining in the distance. Contrasting the dark moonlit horizon. "Another Player? This time of night?" He thought to himself. He ran over to investigate.

Klein came across a player dressed in all black, a series of red-eyed wolves chasing him. The player was just keeping ahead of the creatures. On a dime, the player stopped, and unleashed an area of effect combo on the wolves, quickly dispatching them. As the ash dissipated, the player became clear.

"Hey, Kirito!" Klein shouted to him.

Kirito turned his head to face Klein, sheathing his sword. "Oh hey." Kirito just audibly responded. Klein made his way over to Kirito.

"What are you doing out here this late?" Klein asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." Kirito responded.

"Well, I asked first."

"What does it look like? I'm farming levels."

"Same. You been out here long?"

"No, just started. I've been preoccupied with a few things."

"Oh yeah?" Klein's expression turned to one of a skeptic. "What kinds of things? Involve women at all?"

"No. It's nothing, don't worry about it." Kirito replied, unamused.

Klein looked up to the moon and caught a glimpse of Kirito's player name. Underneath it in italics, it was no longer blank. _The Moonlit Black Cats_.

"Kirito, you joined a guild?"

"What? Oh yeah. I suppose I did."

"When did that happen?"

"Earlier tonight, technically yesterday I suppose."

"Alright. They pretty elite?"

"No. They're all really lower level, they think I'm around their same level as well."

"Kirito…"

"What?"

"Be careful with that."

"Don't worry about it. Klein, how are you doing?"

"Fine I'd say. You shaken up by the other day at all?"

"Of course."

"Same. I'm sure we'll push it aside eventually though."

"Maybe. Where's your guildmates at?" Kirito inquired, noticing Klein had been alone this whole time.

"I don't have any."

"What? What happened to them?"

"Well you know what happened to that one squad…..completely decimated. But Egiru, he's decided to stop fighting on the frontlines, at least for a bit. He has a wife to go back home to. It's hard to blame him. He wants to start item appraising. Maybe help Argo out a bit."

"What about Lis?"

"When she woke up, we had a long talk. She doesn't want to fight anymore. I got upset about it, and we…yeah. The others all quit. Scared off."

"I see."

"I say good riddance. If you won't fight, how will we escape? How will we survive?"

"I don-"

"Sorry. That was too harsh. I already miss Lis. And Egiru and the others I just sucks. This feeling of...abandonment. You're a solo player, I don't expect you to understand."

"I understand enough. I'm sorry that's happened to you."

"Not your fault. Plan on going to the next clearing party?"

"I'm not sure. It depends on if I can sneak away from my guild."

"Why did you join such a low level group?"

"Circumstances...to say the least. I feel this strange urge to lookout for them."

"Fair enough. Everyone's got their reasons I guess. But you still plan on trying to fight, right?"

"Yeah. I don't know how to do anything else. How about you? Plan on rebuilding your guild?"

"Yeah. I don't know what else I'd rather do."

"Well, I suppose I'll see you around. I'm going to the other end of this field."

"See you around."


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Moonlit Meeting

 _13th April 2023. Aincrad, Floor 10, KoB Guild Hall, 11:00 AM , Aincrad Standard Time._

"Well Miss Asuna, I suppose a congratulations is in order." Heathcliff addressed Asuna in a monotone voice, as she approached him in his "office". She took a chair directly in front of him.

Heathcliff's office was naturally lit by the looming stained glass windows behind him. There were rows of lamps setup on either sides of the room hung on the walls to illuminate the nighttime, as well as a tall wax candle sitting on Heathcliff's desk that could be lit for reading light. The room having North-South exposure, Asuna didn't have to worry about the soon to peak sun in her eyes.

"And why exactly?" Asuna asked.

"Well, after the Floor 22...encounter, it would appear as though a restructure is in order."

"What do you mean?"

"Yuuna departed from the _Knights_ yesterday. I get the feeling she'll be back, but in the meantime, we must proceed without her."

Asuna was saddened at Yuuna's departure. "Oh, I see." Asuna said looking down.

"So, you'll be...inheriting the remainder of her squad mates. So we'll have to recruit two new members to fulfill the empty spaces. Furthermore, I have decided it's time for us to be less exclusive. As a result, Godfree will be our Chief Combat Instructor. In charge of getting new recruits up to speed with our tactics and practices."

"What about Kuradeel?"

"Demoted. The insolent, incompetent...nevermind." Heathcliff flashed a flare of anger before returning to his normally calm demeanor. "A member of my squad will lead Kuradeel's squad, as well as another member from my squad will lead Godfree's former squad. And...I hate to do this but actually to replace the gap I must ask that a member from Yuuna's former squad join mine. Godfree will fill the 6th slot when it comes time to clear."

"Understood."

"And, with the shifting of ranks, I suppose the title of "Vice Commander" is yours for the taking. Hence, congratulations."

"Oh, wow. Uhhh….thank you." Asuna stammered a reply. She wasn't expecting a promotion, especially considering what had happened to her (former) squad.

"You are now directly under me. In times of my absence your word is an extension of mine. Unless of course...you object?"

"Oh no. Of course. Thank you sir!" Asuna quickly got to her feet and bowed.

"The formalities are appreciated."

Asuna returned to her seat.

"And speaking of absences," Heathcliff continued. "I'm going to be taking a leave. I want you to work with Godfree to recruit new members. Perhaps a meeting with Argo would be in your best interest? I digress. Vice Commander, I entrust my guildly duties to you for a period of approximately one week. When I return, we will organize to clear this floor."

"Understood. Sir, if you don't mind me asking, where are you going?"

" _Floor 1_. Someone important to me resides there, and I'd like to visit them."

"I see. I hope to meet your expectations, Commander." Asuna replied.

"Exceed them. Dismissed."

 _13th April 2023. Aincrad, Floor 23, Stile Cafe, 8:00 PM , Aincrad Standard Time._

"Thanks for being able to meet so soon, I hope I'm not taking you away from anything important." Asuna greeted Argo as she sat down at the cafe table.

"Well you know what they say...time is money…." Argo teased back.

"I'm sorry, if this is a bad time we can-"

"I was only joking. Tonight works great. Night is still very young. So what can I help you with?"

"I need to recruit a few people into the _KoB_. We've relaxed our requirements, but we still want skilled players. And I was wondering if you knew of anyone maybe spoken highly of by some lower guilds that may be worth talking to?" Asuna explained.

"I see." Argo held her chin in thought. "Well. There is one person who immediately comes to mind." Argo resolved.

"Who would that be?"

"He's stubbornly a solo player but he may be worth talking to. Although I'm not sure how well he'd take to receiving orders…"

Asuna let out a sigh. "Well, is he good at least? I'm sure Godfree could straighten him out if needed."

"Oh yeah. He's fantastic. I've yet to hear of a better swordsman than himself, and believe me, I hear about A LOT. They mostly end up dead because of their inflated egos."

"Well, when is he available? And he is alive, correct?"

"Very much alive. Availability, I'm not sure. He can be hard to track down. When I bump into him, I'll be sure to let him know that a cute girl is looking for him. That oughta get his attention."

Asuna giggled. "Say, how much would it be to accelerate the 'bumping into' process?"

"How much you offering?"

"Normal rate plus dinner?"

"Sounds good to me." Argo agreed. "He'll be pointed your direction by the end of the night."

"Excellent, thank you." Asuna said with a smile.

The two continued their dinner together, chatting menially.

 _14th April 2023. Aincrad, Floor 23, Kosaten Forest, 2:00 AM , Aincrad Standard Time._

"Kirito, what in the hell are you doing up so late?" Argo emerged from a patch of trees into the clearing Kirito had just finished slaying creatures in. He sheathed his sword before turning around to address an all too familiar voice.

"I could ask the same for you. I've heard you've become more nocturnal lately."

"I hold that one in the morning is not early in the morning, but rather late at night." Argo jabbed back.

"So, what brings you to me this time? How did you even find me this time?"

"Really want to know?"

"Go for it."

"This area on the floor has the highest level monsters besides the labyrinth."

"Fair enough. So what do you need?" Kirito said with a hint of dejection. All he really wanted to do go back to killing creatures.

"What, a friend can't just seek out and visit with another friend?"

"No, I just figured that if you wanted to hangout, you'd find me in a more...friendly environment."

"Fair enough. While it is of course good to see you, I do have business." Argo said with a smile before taking a seat on the ground, which Kirito promptly joined her in doing.

"So lay it on me, I guess." Kirito prompted Argo.

"Well Mr. Swordsman. It would appear as though you have a girly suitor." Argo couldn't hold back a giggle when telling Kirito this.

Kirito raised an eyebrow, and his expression turned to that of one conveying confusion. "Argo, what exactly do you mean?"

" _Almost_ exactly as it sounds. There's a girl. Around your age. And pretty cute, I'd say. Anyhow, she specifically asked me to seek you out. She has...well let's just say a proposal for you."

"Argo, did you set up some sort of arranged marriage for me?"

"Well, I suppose you'll just have to meet her and find out. Who knows, maybe you two will hit it off and it will blossom into something more-" Argo began to tangentially drift off

"Argo, you good?"

Argo let out a sigh. "Yeah. I suppose. Anyhow, I wasn't paid to tell you _what_ it was about. I was only paid to tell you that someone wants to see because they need your help."

"Oh, so they need help?"

"Yeah. Ya know, maybe should have led with that, but I think my way was funnier. And wait a minute...The magical word for you is 'help'"? Argo appeared to have an epiphany.

"Ehhh, kind of? At least now it doesn't seem like it will be a complete waste of my time."

"Wow. I don't actually know how to take that. Nor respond to that."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like-"

"Uh-huh."

"You know what, whatever." Kirito concluded.

Argo couldn't help but giggle at Kirito's futile attempt to dig himself out the hole he made for himself.

"Alright, so when and where?"

"Yeah about that. Do you know roughly where you'll be tomorrow, or rather, later today?"

"Argo unless I'm still talking to you I probably couldn't tell you where I'll be in a couple hours from now."

"Fair enough. She'll be alot easier to find than you will be. But I think I can manage."

"Alright, so I don't really need to do anything then?"

"I suppose not. Just let me drag you to wherever tomorrow. Or later today. Or you know what, whenever I see you next."

"Alright."

Argo moved her head back from looking over at Kirito to look at the moonlit sky. In this motion, she caught a metallic object reflect on Kirito's coat in the corner of her eye. Prompting her to quickly rotate her head back and focus on the object.

"Say Kirito, what's that thing on your coat?" Argo pointed to the object in question.

"Oh, this?" Kirito acknowledged the object. A small pin on his jacket, depicting an image of a crescent moon. "This is-"

"Oh my god, Kirito, you've joined a guild haven't you?" Argo concluded.

"Uhhhh, kind of? I guess yeah?"

"What do you mean, 'I guess yeah'? Are you not in a guild? I see it on your name tag…"

"I am. But it's more of a-"

"What, a spring fling? A one night stand? A shack up? A boff?" Argo joked.

( _what the hell is a boff?)_ "No, nothing like that. I guess I'm committed? I'm really not sure."

"Ah, so I see you haven't gone exclusive now. So still seeing other people then."

"I joined these guys. _The Moonlit Black Cats_. Very low level guild. I helped them out once, and then another time, and then one thing led to another and-"

Kirito was interrupted by Argo's giggling. "Sorry, please continue."

"And well I got asked an just kind of did it. I think maybe a month, maybe a little less, I can at least have taught them how to survive. I don't think they'll ever be able to do high level content, but at the very least, not get themselves killed."

"Well when you put it that way. How _noble_ of you." Argo giggled once more.

"Whatever. It is what it is." Kirito stated.

"Kirito, I know I joke, but seriously. There's not a whole lot of players at your level that would do this. It's actually a very commendable thing. What you're doing." Argo reached a hand over to Kirito's shoulder to get him to face her as she said it.

"Thanks. I guess I just don't see it like that."

"Well that's how I see it. I wonder if your suitor will find this more appealing…"

"Anything else?" Kirito asked

"No, that does it. I'll find you again later and take you to your little date."

"Alright. Come on, I'll walk you back to the safe zone."

"You always know how to treat a lady." Argo smiled.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Not Meant To Be

 _15th April 2023. Aincrad, Floor 23, Kosaten Forest, 12:01 AM , Aincrad Standard Time._

"Well, at least I got the location right. How long have you been out here?" Argo emerged from the forest to greet Kirito, who was busy grinding away.

"A couple of hours." Kirito replied, sheathing his sword.

"Where have you been all day?" Argo inquired.

"With the guild. Training."

"I suppose it was best that I didn't bother you earlier today then. How are things going with them?"

"Just fine."

"I hope you're more talkative with your date. You ready to go?"

"Sure."

The two departed the forest back towards town.

 _15th April 2023. Aincrad, Floor 23, Stile Cafe, 12:20 AM , Aincrad Standard Time._

"Well, this is as far as I go." Argo stopped her and Kirito just outside a cafe in the heart of town.

"What do you mean?"

"I wasn't paid to moderate this whole meeting. Or rather, be your wingman in this instance."

"Fair enough. How will I know who it is though?"

"Guaranteed she'll be the only player in there this time of night." Argo assured.

"Well, see you around then."

"Likewise." Argo reciprocated before leaving Kirito at the door.

Kirito walked into the cafe. A cozily lit place with tables and chairs laid out. He scanned the dining room for the other player. Immediately to his left, he spotted her.

Asuna stood up from her table and turned around to see who had walked in.

"It's...him." Asuna thought to herself.

Kirito took a few steps towards Asuna so she could be within earshot without him needing to shout. "Are you my date?" Kirito said with a hint of sarcasm.

A cross look overcame Asuna's face. "What's that supposed to mean?" Asuna was not amused.

"You know what, ask Argo later." Kirito replied.

"Right. So, it's you."

"Yeah. I guess so. Were you expecting someone different?"

"I suppose you should have a seat first." Asuna invited Kirito to sit down across from her, which he promptly did.

"Just to double check, you asked Argo to come find me?"

"I suppose I did. But not _specifically_ you. I simply asked her for someone skilled, and she said she knew the person, and could have them come talk to me. You're apparently who I got." Asuna explained.

"What, aren't you happy to see me?" Kirito sensed something was off about Asuna. She wasn't her usual self that he had come to know. The air about her had changed.

"It's more of...I kind of already know how this conversation will go. Now that it's you." Asuna clarified.

"Well, doesn't hurt to try?" Kirito tried to coax out the dialogue.

"I suppose not. I guess I should start with, well, how have you been?"

"Fine. I guess. How about yourself?"

"Fine, as well."

"Have you recovered from that...day?"

"I'd like to think so."

"I'd like to think so as well. Right. So, I guess the next thing to say is, I got promoted."

"Really? Congratulations." Kirito's expression turned surprised.

"Thanks. Anyhow, the Commander is currently on leave for about a week, and he tasked me with recruiting into the guild to rebuild our numbers. The requirements have been eased a little bit and- Oh! I'm sorry I don't mean to say that I'm only offering this to you because our requirements got laxed or anything!" Asuna's face blushed a bright red.

"I understand what you mean."

"Ok." Asuna's tone returned to the professional and proper one she had adopted for this conversation. "So as the Commander is out, I'm acting as commander in his stead. Although once he returns, I'll become my newly appointed role of Vice Commander."

"Did you happen to notice that you gave away what you were going to ask me?"

Asuna let out a sigh. "Yep. Yep I guess I did. So, you know it, but allow me to ask you formally. Kirito, would you like a place in _The Knights of the Blood?_ You'll easily pass Godfree's combat trials. And you can be in my squad, because I know how much you'll probably _enjoy_ taking orders from me. I know you like to be solo, but don't you think it's time to change a little bit? We made a promise to each other that we'd both survive. You being in _JoB_ would amplify your...our chances."

"Uhhh I-"

"And, think of all the drops you would get. You could probably work your way into commanding another squad if you wanted. I would also get someone competent in my squad. Someone to bounce real strategies off of, and I need a-"

"Are you trying to recruit me for the guild or for yourself?" Kirito attempted to joke. It did not go over well, with Asuna's expression turning to one of crossed once more.

"Fine. I'm done saying things. Kirito do you want to join or what?" Asuna asked in a somewhat dejected tone.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like _that_." Asuna merely sat back with her arms crossed as if Kirito had to re-amuse her to bring her back to the conversation.

"So, what did you mean then?"

"I meant...is it you that wants me in the guild or does the Commander actually want me there? Remember this is the same guild that tried to pin a murder on me."

"What? My opinion isn't good enough?" Asuna tried to tease.

"Hey! As I said, I doubt I'm in the good graces of the Commander and-"

"Now that, was a joke Kirito." Asuna giggled.

Kirito sighed. "I'm dropping it."

"Good. So will you accept my offer?" Asuna asked.

"About this whole thing...I'm currently in a guild."

Asuna's expression turned to shock. "WHAT?!"

"Yeah." Kirito confirmed.

"Who are they? Are they all like you? Are they good? High level?" Asuna fired off some questions.

"They're a group of low level players. I saved them a couple times, and after the last they treated me to a celebration. One thing led to another and in a spur of the moment I accepted their offer."

"I see."

"They don't know I'm at the level I'm at. No one's bothered to check, they've just taken me at my word."

"Kirito...be careful with that."

"I know."

"What's your plan with them?"

"I don't know. I just want them to survive at this point. Asuna, after that day, I can't stand to see players die in front of me. I think I'll be with them for at least a month. Maybe a bit more. I'll teach them all that I can so they have a decent chance of surviving. But, they'll never be at the level of say _KoB_ or players like Klein."

"Kirito, I don't know if this offer will still stand in a month or so. This is something that kind of needs to happen _now_."

"I'm sorry Asuna. But I don't think I can leave them."

"So, that'll be it then." Asuna's expression and tone began to hint at some degree of anger.

"What do you mean?"

"You won't build anything. Just enough to get by. After you leave them, you'll go back to being a solo player. Kirito, you understand how much more dangerous solo playing at your level is, right? And it will only get harder from there."

"I'm aware." Kirito tried to remain as calm as possible, but he could feel a lecture beginning to form.

"And it means nothing to you? Needlessly risking your life when a much safer option is literally right in front of you?"

"Why are you starting to get upset about this?"

"I'm not upset but rather...I guess I am a litte. Fine. But It's because I believe this is the best option, for both of us."

"Please, don't make this into an ultimatum."

"I'm not trying to. It's just this option won't be open when you're done. _If_ you're ever done."

"What do you mean, 'if'?" Kirito asked.

"You never know. You could settle down there. Decide you like the comparatively quiet life that it provides. Is that really what you want out of this life?"

"I don't plan on staying forever."

"So, what needs to happen for you to leave them? Kirito, what can I possibly offer you? _KoB_ would be lucky to have a player like you."

"You know I just can't leave them now. I've told myself I'd at least get them to a point where they wouldn't get killed by some random encounter. I'm sorry this doesn't match your timeline, Asuna."

"Fine. I'm sorry, Kirito."

"What for?"

"That this didn't work out."

"It's alright. I'll see you around, _Vice Commander_ _Asuna_."

"Goodbye, Kirito."

Kirito stood up and exited the cafe. Asuna finished her tea before exiting as well. She was stopped by a small figure exiting an alley.

"So, how did it go?" Argo asked, looking up at her with hopeful eyes.

"Not good." Asuna simply replied.

 _15th April 2023. Aincrad, Floor 15, Synethia Inn, 2:00 AM , Aincrad Standard Time._

Kirito returned to the inn on _Floor 15_ that was serving as the _MBC's_ "headquarters". At the very least, it was a place the guild was familiar with and could call "home" for the time being. He rented his usual room on the second floor, and upon entering unequipped his gear and changed into his sleeping attire: even in _Aincrad_ boxer shorts existed. He laid down on the bed, and let out a sigh. By his standards he was turning in early, yet the conversation with Asuna had put more stress on him then he'd like to admit. He couldn't shake the feeling that he had somehow let her down.

After twenty minutes of attempting to sleep, he was jolted awake by a knocking on his door. "Wait, that isn't the door." He then thought to himself. The knocking was coming from his left side, not the right. "The Window?"

Kirito got up out of bed and walked over to his room's window. He opened up the curtains and was met with a face staring back at him. Kirito jumped back at the surprise Upon further inspection, it turned out Kirito recognised the now laughing face looking back at him. He opened the window, and granted the player access to come in.

"Argo, I will pay whatever you want just to know how you knew where I was." Kirito said.

"No trick, I just simply followed you. No charge. And you were none the wiser. Hahahaha." Argo let out another laugh. "You didn't notice me at all. I bet you're glad you didn't walk through any unsafe zones." Argo continued to laugh.

"Yeah, could've been murdered. Real funny." Kirito dejectedly replied. He just wanted to resume attempting to sleep.

"No dark humor? Fine. Nice underwear, by the way. Do you own a color besides black?" Argo pointed down at Kirito's boxers. Kirito blushed and looked down.

"Sorry, give me a sec." Kirito opened his menu and equipped into his casual clothes: a long sleeve black shirt with black pants.

"Ehhh, I really don't care anyway." Argo giggled. "So, Asuna told me your date didn't go to well."

"What was that all about? The way you framed it…"

"You didn't really expect me to be playing matchmaker, did you?"

"No, I just expected something different. Nevermind. So what did she tell you?" Kirito asked.

"Just that it didn't go well."

"I guess you could say that."

"Is your story different?"

"Not necessarily. I don't know what to do here. I feel tied in what to do and-"

Kirito was interrupted by another knock, this time actually coming from the door.

"You expecting a visitor?" Argo asked.

"No." Kirito replied as he walked over and opened up the door. He was met with a very tired Sachi.

"Hey, is everything alright?" Kirito asker her, with a stunned look on his face.

"Yeah, b-but I heard a slam, is everything ok?" Sach tiredly replied.

"What, that shouldn't be possible without the eavesdrop skill.. Player owned rooms block-"

"That's only player voices." The previously unnoticed Argo chimed in from behind Kirito, drawing the attention of Sachi who looked past Kirito's shoulder to see Argo casually sitting on the bed. Argo simply shot back a grin.

"Oh….O-oh I'm sorry." Sachi's face blushed a very bright red. "I-I'm sorry to interrupt. I didn't realize y-you were involved with someone. I'm sorry. I'll lea-"

"Wha-? No, no! I-It's not like that at all! We're not...I'm not-" Kirito stammered out, his face starting to turn red as well. He tried to recompose himself as best he could. Argo laid back on the bed, laughing hysterically. "That's Argo, an information broker. I had a late night out and she dropped by unexpectedly. I'm sorry to wake you, Sachi."

"Oh, I see. W-well, have a good night, you two. Argo it was nice to m-meet you." Sachi nervously waved at Argo before returning to her room. Kirito shut the door and turned back to face Argo, still laughing but sitting up now.

"Well, that'll be a fun morning tomorrow." Argo continued to giggle.

"Whatever." Kirito let out a sigh and sat on the chair for the room's desk, and turned it to face Argo. "So, what do you want to know?"

"Well, I see why you wouldn't want leave. She seems cute." Argo winked and teased.

"Do you want to know what happened between Asuna and I, or what?"

"Of course."

"Well, you obviously know what she wanted, and the outcome based on her response."

"Yeah, but did anything more happen?"

"No. She tried to convince me. And that's about it."

"Convince you...ooo...I like where that sounds like it goes…" Argo teased.

"Not anything at all like that. It only seemed like she wanted me in the guild. Not anyone else."

"Does that really matter though?"

"I guess not. But it came down to my involvement with my guild now."

"I see. Well, your hands certainly were tied there."

"I just can't shake the feeling that I disappointed her. Or let her down or something."

"It's alright. I've been disappointed by men my whole life." Argo jokes. "Anyhow, Kirito, as I said the other night, I couldn't be disappointed in you or blame you for what you're doing with _MBC_. I doubt she is also."

"You should've heard her."

"I'm sure she was just frustrated because she had a preconceived idea as to how the conversation would go. 'Hey, Kirito, it's me, the cute girl who likes you and you really should be more open with and-'"

"Argo."

"'And is offering you a place in the guild I'm in. Hey now that we're in the same guild we can be closer with each other and can pursue our-'"

"Argo. I get it."

"Aww let me have my fun. As I was saying, you kind of turned her notion on its head. She probably had a hard time reacting to the changed situation."

"Well, that's a bad skill to lack. That'll only get her killed, but it hasn't yet."

"Kirito, that was very mean. I'd make you apologize if she was here, so, I'll let you do it to me instead."

"Sorry."

"And I'll accept your apology on her behalf. I think what you meant to say was 'She should get better at thinking on her feet'."

"Yeah, let's actually go with that. Sorry, once again."

"Conversation is different than combat." Argo concluded. "With that, I think I'll head out. Seems like you have a big morning ahead of you. You should get some sleep."

"Thanks, I'll try to." Kirito replied.

"I'm sorry, Kirito."

"What for?"

"That things didn't work out."

"Oh, thanks."

Argo saw herself out through the door to the inn room. Kirito laid back down in bed.

"Funny, she said the same thing to me." Kirito thought to himself, before drifting off to sleep.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34: Rolecall**

 _15th April 2023. Aincrad, Floor 12,Tenlen Field , 9:00 AM , Aincrad Standard Time._

Kirito sat in the grass next to Sachi. The two were the first awake and ready in the _MBC_ , so they decided to depart to the training location for the day a bit early, and enjoy the morning weather.

Eventually they saw the rest of the _MBC_ approach them. Kirito let out a yawn.

"Late night last night, Kirito?" Tetsuo slapped Kirito on the shoulder when he asked. The question also brought a grin to Sachi's face, remembering what she had walked in on earlier that morning.

"No, I just couldn't sleep well." Kirito replied.

"Fair enough. We all get those nights sometimes."

"Well, you're up." Keita chimed in. "I agreed you could sort of run things for training today, so what would you have us do?"

"Today I want you all to decide what roles you'd like to take on. Permanently."

"Isn't this a little sudden?" Sasamaru asked.

"You guys have had a couple days, and you all have tried everything out. The sooner you decide, the faster we can get better." Kriito replied.

""Fair enough." Sasamaru chimed down.

"Right. So I suppose ladies first then." Keita extended a hand towards Sachi. The mere thought of attention being called to herself was enough to make her start to blush.

"O-oh, I-I wouldn't want to take anything away from someone. I can go last, it's fine." Sachi answered with a smile.

"Nonsense, we insist." Keita smiled and assured.

Sachi looked towards Kirito, who simply nodded. "Like we talked about." Kriito thought to himself.

"Ok. Well, I guess I'll take up the supporting role."

"I think that suits you just fine." Kirito smiled and assured Sachi. "Who's next?"

"I'll call mine, if that's alright with everyone else?" Ducker began.

"Go for it." Keita said.

"I'll support as well. I'm way too short to be a tank." Ducker joked.

The thought of physical stature in _Aincrad_ had almost become comical at this point to Kirito. In this world, all that mattered was stats and skill, but that wouldn't stop people from conforming to what roles they thought matched their literal size the best.

"Sounds good to me." Keita said. The rest of the guild nodded their heads in agreement.

"Tetsuo, you're up next." Keiba continued.

"Alright! The tank is for me!" Tetsuo proudly proclaimed. "Anyone protest? No? OK!" Tetsuo had become highly energized ever since the _MBC_ had started training.

"Good pick. Alright, Sasamaru, what would you like?" Keita asked.

"Well, no one's picked it yet, so damage!" Sasamaru picked.

"You seemed to be most comfortable with that during practice." Kirito remarked.

"Alright, well, I will be our secondary tank. Assuming our new addition here doesn't have suddenly found affinity for heavy armor and a shield." Keita picked.

"Nope, no problems here." Kirito confirmed. "Keita, I'm assuming you want to do the calling as well?"

"Yes. Or at least learn to." Keita replied.

"Alright. That'll be easy to manage as secondary tank. And, I will take up the last damage role." Kirito stated.

"Is our composition good, do you think?" Ducker asked.

"Yeah. It's a balanced triple two. It's capable of handling pretty much anything."

"That's good. But I wonder what the squads in the frontlines do?" Ducker asked a follow up question.

"They-" Kirito began but stopped himself. "That's a good question." Kirito lied through his teeth. Frontline squads had become adept at changing players into different roles to best fit the situation, ever since the game suddenly allowed players to change gear while in combat. The stipulation that was discovered was the player that had to switch gear couldn't have taken damage within the last ten seconds.

Squads would often have three static positions, primary tank, damage dealer, and support, and the other three members would flex roles depending on the situation.

"But this should be a good, balanced set up." Kirito reiterated. This wasn't a lie. Most squads on the frontlines would initially enter combat with this sort of balanced setup.

"Alright! I'm pumped! Let's get STARTED!" Tetsuo exclaimed.

* * *

The rest of the day passed without any incident. The _MBC_ returned to the main hall of the inn where they dined, recounting the day's exploits. After finishing, the _MBC_ returned to their respective rooms. Kirito had decided just to stay in and have a lazy night. He was almost effective level cap for the latest floor, anyway.

Kirito entered his room and unequipped his gear, changing into his casual clothes. He lied in bed, sorting through his inventory, and deleting all of the junk he had picked up. Drops that weren't worth much to sell, or couldn't be sold, and he had no use for.

After a little while, he heard a knock on his door. He pondered who it might be while getting up to open the door. He was greeted by Sachi, who was casually wearing a dark blue skirt, as well as a simple blouse.

"Hey Sachi, what's going on?" Kirito asked.

"Oh uhhh" Sachi began to fumble. "I just wanted to come talk to you and ask about my role some more, if that's alright?"

"Oh yeah, of course. Come in." Kirito motioned for her to have a seat. She sat on the bed, crossing her legs while Kirito sat on a chair he had pulled from the corner of the room. He was sat just slightly below her, due to the height of the bed frame. He suddenly began to notice Sachi's beauty. Her hair, although it barely reached her shoulders when down, she had managed to do up in a ponytail. Kirito noticed her figure was small, and somewhat frail. This tiny girl had a sleepy appearance caused by her eyes drooped. She maintained a slight grin, sitting on the bed, facing Kirito. This seemed to be the most relaxed Kirito had ever seen Sachi. He already began to like this side of her.

"So, what did you have questions about?" Kirito asked.

"Well, when we were fighting the boar, I had a mace and buckler shield. I was just kind of wondering, why that for a support role?"

"The maces have combat skills that can stun and stagger, but they're heavy and do comparatively low damage. They fit a support role really well because of that."

"Oh I see."

"It just comes down to utility." Kriito concluded.

"Ok. What if I used a different weapon?" Sachi asked.

"Hmmm, ok. What did you have in mind?"

"Well. I was thinking maybe...a spear?"

"A spear?" Kirito began trying to recall what weapon skills a spear had that may be beneficial to Sachi's support role. "Hmmmm…"

"If it's not something I could use, then don't worry about it." Sachi sao Kirito go into thought, and tried to lighten her request, not wanting to what she thought would inconvenience or stress Kirito out.

"What got you to want to change weapons?" Kriito asked.

"Well I ummmm. I'm…" Sachi began to look down at her lap. "I don't like being so close to the creatures. I'm scared that being-"

Kirito reached his hand out and placed it on her shoulder to reassure her. "It's alright to be scared. I understand." Kriito said.

"Ok. I'm sorry. It's such a dumb reason."

"It's not. It's ok."

"Thank you." Sachi looked back up at Kirito.

"A spear might serve alright. How good is your Agility stat?"

"It's a bit on the lower side. I had gotten up Strength in order to hit harder with the mace."

"And your Spear skill is probably at zero also."

Sachi just nodded.

"Right. So tomorrow, what if we get up earlier and go over to a blacksmith. You can get a few different qualities of spears, so that as your level goes up through the day you can just keep upgrading. It'll be a bit rough at first while the skill improves over the course of the next couple of days."

Sachi's smile grew wider at the plan. "Sounds great."

"Alright, say maybe seven tomorrow?"

"Works for me."

"Any other questions?"

"No, that was pretty much it. I thought it'd be a bit bigger of a concern or problem than it really was."

"Nope, no problem." Kirito grinned as he was saying it, matching Sachi's smile.

"Can I stay and chat for a bit?" Sachi asked.

"Of course."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"I dunno. You asked!" Kriito laughed.

"I guess you're right. Hmmm." Sachi put her hand to her chin. "Oh, I got something!"

"Alright, what is it?"

"Why do you only use one sword?" Sachi asked.

* * *

The two continued their conversation well into the night. As the night progressed, Sachi had gone from sitting to lying down. Eventually, Kirito no longer got replies out of Sachi.

"And you'd have to-" Kirito cut off his own sentence when he noticed Sachi had drifted off to sleep.

Kirito glanced up at the clock above the bed, reading 12:30 AM. They had planned to get up a bit on the earlier side the next morning, and their hours of sleep were rapidly diminishing.

Kirito suddenly delved into a string of thoughts. "So. There's a girl sleeping in my bed." He thought to himself. The thought started to make him blush a little bit. "Well, I guess this chair is as good of a bed as any." He eventually concluded to himself. He resigned himself to the chair, as after thinking about it, he thought sleeping next to Sachi would be inappropriate for himself to do. And waking her up wouldn't be fair to her either, after all, he had accidentally kept her chatting most of the night.

Kirito grabbed a pillow from the side of the bed opposite Sachi, and maneuvered his chair up against a wall. He sat back in his chair, his head holding the pillow against the wall. It wasn't comfortable per se, but it wasn't necessarily uncomfortable either. It would serve just fine as a place to sleep. Kirito set his in-game alarm for 6:45 AM, and drifted off to sleep.

000

The subtle beeping of the alarm roused Kriito from his sleep. As soon as he could, he switched it off. Closing his menu, he got up from his chair and stretched, feeling several bones crack. "Whoa, that's never happened before." He thought to himself. He stretched almost every time he woke up, and had never heard his bones crack before. To confirm, he cracked his knuckles, and the same effect occurs. "Did the game advance its anatomy calculations?" He thought to himself.

Before he could continue his thought process, he noticed Sachi begin to stir. She slowly opened her eyes, and was met with Kirito looking back at her.

"Good morning, sleepy." Kirito smiled at her. A look of panic suddenly overcame Sachi as she realized what had happened.

"Did...D-did I…" She stammered out.

"Yeah." Kirito replied.

"Oh, Kirito, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-where did you sleep?"

"Over there." Kirito pointed to his chair and pillow setup.

"I'm so sorry. That wasn't fair for me to-"

"Don't worry about it."

"You could have woken me up you know."

"Eh, I figured it wouldn't have been fair to you. After all, I kept you talking too long."

"I didn't mean to I just-"

"As I said, don't worry about it." Kriito affirmed. "You still want to go to the blacksmith this morning, right?"

"Yeah. I'll go get changed and meet you down in the main area. See you."

"See you."

Sachi left Kirito's room.

000

Kirito was waiting down in the main area of the inn for a few minutes before he saw Sachi emerge from up the stairs. Overall her outfit was the same, but her skirt had changed colors to a mint green, and she had changed into a white colored shirt. Kirito was dressed in his gear.

"Are you expecting to fight?" Sachi asked Kirito after approaching him.

"Oh, no. I guess not. I just kind of habitually equipped everything."

"Oh. I see. Do you own a color besides black? Your clothes last night were-" Sachi teased before being cut off.

"I don't want to talk about it." Kirito curtly replied. "Where have I heard that before?" Kirito thought to himself, thinking back to Asuna and Argo both commenting on his choice of apparel.

"Did you have a place in mind to go?" Sachi asked.

"Yeah, one. It's down on _Floor 10_."

"Alright." Sachi smiled. "Let's get going then."

* * *

The two made their way to _Floor 10,_ to the central town of _Nar'Alan_. After walking a few blocks from the transportation gate, they came across what was more likened to a shack than an actual building. A wood sign with hand painted ink adorned the otherwise bare front.

" **Katy's Wares"**

"Kirito, I thought we were going to a blacksmith?" Sachi was puzzled.

"They try to upsell you. I honestly can't stand them. Player or NPC." Kirito replied.

"O...k". Sachi was still puzzled.

Kritio opened the front door. The place was mostly empty, save for a counter that behind it was a way to access the rear part of the building. A massive voice bellowed out from behind the door leading to the back.

"Just one second!"

A short while later, Egiru emerged. A warm smile emerged on his face when he saw Kriito.

"Hey. You're still alive. What's been going on with you?" Egiru fist bumped Kirito.

"Nothing much. How's business?" Kirito inquired.

"Slow and barely started. Getting supplies for a store like this is surprisingly difficult. I think I have enough to start selling things as of today though."

"I understand." Kriito replied.

"Who's on your arm there?" Egiru acknowledged Sachi, who had been slowly drifting towards Kirito ever since entering the store.

"Oh, this is one of my guildmates." Sachi moved away from Kirito. Before she had a chance to respond, Egiru quickly followed up.

"Did you say...guildmate?! You joined a guild?" A look of shock overtook Egiru.

"Oh yeah. I suppose I did. We'll have to hang out and I can tell you about them some more." Kriito replied.

"Sounds good to me. Anyhow, little lady, what's your name?"

"Oh, I-I'm Sachi. nice to...to meet you." Sachi's shyness was out in full force, especially around an individual of Egiru's stature and presence.

"So what brings you two in today? Excited to be my first customers?" Egiru asked.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Kirito responded.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Flowering Blossom

 _6th May 2023. Aincrad, Floor 15,Synethia Inn, 5:00 AM, Aincrad Standard Time._

Kirito sat at a table in the cafe part of the inn. Sipping black tea in an attempt to wake up. The two hours of sleep he managed to get in were not treating him well.

Shortly after finishing his glass and waiting a few more minutes, he heard footsteps on the main staircase. Emerging from the top was Sachi. Kirito looked up, and was in awe.

Sachi was clad in a muted pink button down tank top with a collar and frilled sleeves, as well as a pure white skirt that sat several inches above her knee. No socks, wearing white short pumps with a silver embroidery. Her hair was once again done up in a short ponytail, tied back with a simple black ribbon. _Aincrad_ had a surprisingly familiar variety of fashion as what could be found in the real world.

Sachi approached Kirito's table, and stood over the chair opposite the one he was sitting, Kirito's eyes fixed on her the whole time. She had managed to maintain a slight grin this whole time, Kirito was still speechless. Eventually her grin turned into an expression of concern.

"Kirito, are you ok?" Sachi broke the silence. It was only the two of them in the inn cafe, save for the NPC behind the cafe counter ready to serve any would be customers.

"Wha-." Kirito snapped out of his daze. His expression lightened. "You are…"

"I'm? I-Is everything alright?" Sachi stuttered out, her expression turned to one of concern. Did she do something wrong?

"Wha-. Oh no, yes, everything's look...absolutely beautiful." Kirito finally managed to get out.

Sachi blushed and a smile returned to her face. "T-Thanks."

Kirito stood up from his seat. "Where did you want to go this early in the morning? You wanted to keep it a surprise until today."

"Well, I thought it'd be nice to go to Shadowglen and watch the sunrise." Sachi replied.

"Down on _Floor 10_?"

"Yes."

"Sounds great."

Sachi led him out of the inn and to the floor teleporter. The city streets were empty this time of the morning. Not even the shopkeeper NPCs had their stands open for business, their programmed sleep cycle wouldn't have them open up until around 8AM.

They reached the teleporter. Kirito approached the destination terminal and set the device to _Floor 10_. The pair went through the portal generated by the stone and metal device. After a flash of light, they found themselves in the center of _Kushin_ , a small town whose only claim to fame was harboring the floor's teleporter.

"Well, we don't have far to walk." Sachi optimistically said. _Shadowglen_ was located just North of the main town on _Floor 10_. A short walk from _Kushin_.

"Yeah." Kirito tiredly replied.

The two walked along the paved road through an open grass field. The morning light starting to show hints of luminance from the horizon. The pair was silent, and Kirito let out a yawn.

Sachi mustered up the courage to say something. She couldn;t think of anything that could be bothering Kirito, and she didn't want to come off as annoying.

"K-Kirito, is everything alright? Are y-you ok?" Sachi stammered out. Her head lowered, and she braced for whatever reaction Kirito might have.

Kirito once again returned to the moment. He noticed Sachi's saddened expression. This had also been the second time she had asked him this question just that morning.

"Yes. Sorry. I'm just tired." Kirito replied.

"A-Are you sleeping alright?" Sachi followed up. When Kirito asked her if she wanted to go and do something on their day off of training, he had agreed to the early morning.

'I guess the better question is if I slept at all' Kirito thought to himself. "Yeah. I guess. I'm sorry." Kirito replied.

Although sleep was just an illusion in _Aincrad_ , the game would still impose physical effects mimicking sleep deprivation. Dealing with and pushing past these effects were how as a solo player, he could maintain level parity with organized guilds. Making up for a lack of efficiency with raw time input. After spending the days training with the _MBC_ , and then almost immediately going back out and grinding, the physical effects imposed felt stronger to Kirito the past while. This morning was particularly rough.

"O-Ok." Sachi accepted the answer once again. Not wanting to push the issue further.

The two finally arrived at _Shadowglen_ just before dawn. _Shadowglen_ was a massive garden and park area. Its moniker given by a particularly large meadow of "Yami" flowers on the East side of the area. During the night the flowers were a deep black color, before being exposed to sunlight when they would eventually shift hues into a vivid pink.

 _Shadowglen_ was totally empty save for Sachi and Kirito. The two made their way over to the bed of Yami. Sachi crouched down to take a better look.

"They're almost as black as your outfit." Sachi giggled and teased Kirito. She picked a flower from the patch, and handed it to Kirito. "Here, it'll go good with you." Sachi once again teased. Kirito gently took the flower from Sachi, and placed it inside his coat's left breast pocket, the pistil still exposed.

"Thanks." Kriito replied. 'Wake. Up.' Was all Kirito was thinking to himself. 'This isn't fair to her. After all, you're the one who asked.' His line of though continued.

Sachi stood up, and pointed towards the far East side of Yami meadow. The first rays of dawn were just beginning to hit the flowers. Methodically as the sun rose, more and more of the flowers began to transition to their day time shade. A wave of color was steadily approaching Sachi and Kirito, creating a fantastic sight. Eventually all of the flowers had transformed, but in the still somewhat dim daybreak light, the flowers appeared as though they had a subtle glow about them.

Sachi turned back to face Kirito, standing just behind her. Kirito had never seen a smile so broad on Sachi. In this moment to Kriito, she appeared to glow just like the now pink Yami flowers. The pink of her shirt blending into the background.

Kirito's expression lightened up, and for the first time that morning, he felt a jolt of energy surge through his body. Kirito was about to say something when all of a sudden Sachi wrapped her arms around him in an embrace, nestling her head into the front face of his shoulder. Kirito was taken aback by this sudden action. Memories of moments between him and Asuna came flooding back to him in this instant, before he quickly stowed them back away. Those were in the past. He had to be present for the now.

Kirito matched Sachi's embrace by placing his arms around her as well, his hands resting on the small of Sachi's back. Sachi looked up towards Kirito, her glow still persisting. She moved her left hand to the middle part of Kirito's upper back, and her right hand placed on the right side of Kirito's chest. Kirito looked down slightly and matched the gaze of Sachi.

"T-thank you for taking me here." Sachi gratefully remarked to Kirito before turning her head back towards the sunrise.

"I'm sorry for this morning." Kirito replied.

"What for?" Sachi turned her head back to look up at him.

"Not being here." Kirito replied shortly.

"Are you enjoying it here?" Sachi countered.

"Very much." Kirito replied. The answer seemed to satisfy Sachi, as she averted her gaze back to the field of Yami.

* * *

After enjoying the morning, the pair decided to stick around the park for lunch. As the day progressed, several food vendors had opened up, peddling drinks and sandwiches from their stands. A crowd of people, both players and NPCs, was also going about.

Sachi and Kirito found a somewhat secluded bench to enjoy their lunch, looking over a meadow of pure white Asiatic Lilies. The two finished their meals and simply enjoyed each other's company.

"Look, your flower never changed." Sachi commented, taking the Yami flower from Kirito's coat. It had remained its pre-dawn dark color. She gently placed it back into his coat pocket.

"It must save its state when picked. What else did you want to do today?" Kirito asked.

"Hmm, I don't know. I could stay here all day." Sachi smiled and rested her head on Kirito's shoulder. Kirito's body initially tensed at the motion but relaxed after a few seconds. "Did you have anything else you wanted to do?" Sachi asked.

"No. To be honest, I planned on sleeping most of the day." Kirito grinned.

"Well, I'm sorry to keep you up." Sachi smiled and teased.

"It's fine. I think it was worth it in the end." Kirito said playfully back.

"Hmmmm." Sachi smiled and closed her eyes. "Mentioning it, I could fall asleep here. Despite the crowd, it's still so peaceful. I couldn't imagine it being like this with the rest of the guild."

"Well, we would probably need another bench or two if it was a guild field trip." Kirito chuckled.

"Yeah. How do you like everyone, in the guild, that is?" Sachi asked.

"They're fine." Kirito shortly replied.

"Even me?" Sachi looked up and made a pouting face.

"Well, I _suppose_ you're the exception. Well, let's just say I wouldn't let Tetsuo do what you're doing right now." Kirito sarcastically replied. Slowly, their hands made their way together, their fingers naturally began to interlock.

"I'm glad to hear that." Sachi giggled, envisioning Kirito and Tetsuo on a bench much like what they were doing.

"You all went to the same school together right? Back in the real world?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah. It's a tiny school though. We're all the members of the computer club at school."

"Just you guys?"

"Yeah."

"I see."

"Now it's my turn."

"Go for it."

"Why are you with us?" Sachi asked.

"What do you mean?" Kirito asked.

"Well, I mean-" Sachi stopped her train of thought. "Nevermind."

"It's ok. Whatever it is, you can ask." Kirito assured.

"W-well-" Sachi's stutter had returned.

"You don't have to say it if you don't want to." Kirito noticed her nerves, and cut her off before she could continue.

"T-thank you." Sachi relaxed. Kirito noticed her hand's grip get slightly looser after she stopped wanting to ask the questions.

The rest of the afternoon passed on.

* * *

As the evening fell, the two found themselves back at the _Synethia_ _Inn_ , in the cafe where their day had started. Sachi had adopted an innocent almost pose as she sat across from Kirito. Her arms were down, hands together across her knee, her legs one on top of another crossed as they waited for their dinner to arrive.

"What do you think the others did today?" Kirito asked Sachi.

"Well…" Sachi took a moment to think. "Keita probably sat in his room all day. And the others, I'm sure they found something fun and exciting to do."

"Happy with how the day went?" Kirito asked. "Even though it wasn't maybe as exciting as the others?"

"Of course." Sachi's glowing smile had returned. "I prefer what we did today."

"I'm glad."

"Although, are you saying the day will be over after dinner?" Sachi asked.

"Were you wanting to do something else?"

"Well, I was thinking we could talk more, afterward."

"Of course. We can do whatever you want. I want to make up for this morning."

"Don't worry about it." Sachi giggled. "I still had a nice time with you."

"Thanks." Kirito replied.

Just then the NPC waitress came and served their dinner.

* * *

After dinner they retreated back to Kirito's room. Sachi sat down on Kirito's bed as she had done before, letting her hair down, and unequipped her shoes. She became annoyed as she saw Kirito begin to move the chair towards the bed.

"Y-you can join me here, you know." Sachi offered, a slight red blush starting to show.

"Wha-oh. Ok. As long as you're comfortable with it." Kirito replied. He started to move the chair back into its original position.

"Y-yeah." Sachi nervously confirmed.

Kirito heard her nerves in her voice, and picked the chair back up, resuming his original intention.

"I-I said-t-that y-you...and I-I don't w-want to t-take up-" Sachi stammered out.

Kirito placed the chair closely next to her at the side of the bed. "It's ok." Kirito took her hand.

"T-thank you." Sachi replied, her nerves starting to ease.

"You seemed different since we came up here." Kirito began. "Is everything alright?"

"W-well yeah." Sachi began. "Y-you didn't all of a sudden do anything wrong. I-It's what you're not doing that has helped." A gentle tone came over Sachi's voice.

"What do you mean?" Kirito asked. A confused look overtook him.

"T-thank you, Kirito. Y-you haven't tried to push yourself on me or anything."

"Well, yeah. Were you expecting me to or something?" Kirito became even more confused. Just what kind of person did Sachi take him for?

"N-no. I-I didn't think you would, or anything like that. I-It's not like that at a-all. A-and I wasn't testing you, o-or anything like that. It's-I-It's j-just...I-I h-haven't had-" Sachi began fumbling even harder.

Kirito returned a gentle smile. "Hey, it's alright. Take it slow, or not at all, if you don't want to."

Sachi's expression eased slightly. "I-it's. I haven't had a good experience p-previously."

"How so?"

Sachi's expression once again returned to one of mild distress, but now with a hint of sorrow. "I-I g-guess I could-"

Kirito realized he may have pried too hard. "You don't have to say." Kirito didn't want Sachi to feel uncomfortable.

"N-no. It's ok. I-I think you should know." Sachi insisted.

"Ok. Whatever you want to say, or not say."

"M-my experience. The l-last time I had a day like this. It, didn't e-end well." A tear began to run down Sachi's cheek.

"Sachi, I-"

"I-it's alright." Sachi began to wipe her eyes. I need to finish."

"Alright."

"The l-last time I-I had a day like this. It was a-actually quite s-similar to today. W-we went out to a p-park, a-ate lunch, s-sat and relaxed."

"Back in the real world?"

"Y-yes. I-In fact, I wore something similar t-to today as well." More tears started to run down her face.

"Do you want to stop?"

"I-I'll be ok." Sachi continued. "When the d-day was over, w-we went back to the c-club room at our s-school. It was a d-day off, s-so n-not many people were around. I...I sat waiting b-because he n-needed to grab a few t-things. I w-was reading on my phone w-when h-he-" Sachi cut herself off with a sob. She could feel Kirito's hand clasp tighter around hers.

"Sachi, I-" Kirito began before Sachi continued.

"H-he c-came up from behind m-me. I-I didn't e-even hear him. H-his hands c-clenched and f-felt l-like claws around my b-breasts. I...r-remember screaming out, a-asking what he was d-doing. H-h-he said that I had b-been t-telling him to d-do it."

Sachi felt Kirito's hand begin to close with anger, before continuing: "H-he p-pulled me out of the ch-chair and into h-his...h-his lap. H-his b-breath f-felt so h-hot against my n-neck. H-his hands, f-felt like t-they got everywhere. H-he-" Sachi was cut off by a sob once again. She regained some semblance of composure and began again.

"H-he r-restrained me by the w-waist with o-one of his a-arms. I-I tried pushing a-away from him, but h-he was firmly i-in place. He b-began to u-use his other h-hand to try and s-separate my l-legs. I s-started to kick and scream, b-before h-he took his hand f-from my legs a-and-".

"Sachi, please-" Kirito tried to stop her. He couldn't stand to see her relive this.

"H-his fingers went into m-my mouth a-and down my th-throat. I r-remember gagging. I bit d-down, b-but it didn't g-get him to s-stop. He e-eventually w-wrapped his legs o-over me and on top of m-mine to g-get them to s-stay."

"He t-took his fingers f-from my m-mouth, I could f-feel them s-slowly make their w-way d-down my chest. U-unbuttoning my sh-shirt as went d-down. I felt t-them run a-across my stomach b-before he. He-b-began t-to" Sachi sobbed once again.

Kirito stood up and embraced Sachi, throwing his arms around her. He couldn't stand to see her in pain any longer. Sachi pulled him closer and tighter, letting her emotions out. Eventually she raised her head from his shoulder.

"H-he didn't get much further than th-that. A s-student walking b-by happened to h-hear something and checked to s-see if e-everything w-was alright. He didn't s-see m-much of a-anything, and w-was assured things were a-alright. I u-used the d-distraction to g-get f-free. I r-ran all the way h-home." Sachi began to regain composure as her story resolved.

"Sachi, I'm so sorry. I-" Kirito began.

"I-I cried the r-rest of the night in my r-room. He t-texted me, s-saying he w-was sorry, and th-that it w-was a misunderstanding."

"When did this all happen?"

"A-about a week b-before we g-got into _Aincrad_. I saw Keita for the f-first time since that d-day in the Town of B-Beginnings." Sachi suddenly felt Kirito's whole body tense with anger.

"Sachi, Keita did that to you?" Kirito asked. She simply nodded.

"Y-yes."

"Why did you join his guild?"

"I-It w-was the m-most f-familiar t-thing in this world. He's k-kept his distance s-since that day. I don't th-think the others kn-know."

Kirito sat down next to her on the bed. "Is this ok?" Kirito asked.

"Yes. I don't m-mind."

Kirito pulled her closer, stroking her hair for comfort. "How about that?"

"Y-yes. It feels...n-nice."

"Is that why you seem so nervous around him and the rest of the guild?"

"Y-yeah. I'm an anxious p-person in general. B-but, I s-suppose it d-doesn't make sense f-for someone who has k-known them for a l-longtime to be so n-nervous around friends. I g-guess you've noticed."

"I just thought it was the way you were. I had no idea. Sachi, I'm so sorry."

"Y-you had no w-way of knowing without me telling you. Thank you for listening." Sachi's nerves began to ease as she felt comfort with Kirito.

"Of course. Can I ask you something?" Kirito asked. "You don't have to answer."

"I will. What is it?"

"You said today was a lot like that day. Why did you want to relive it?"

"I w-wanted to know."

"To know what?"

"If it was m-my fault."

"How could it have been your fault? You were the one who got attacked."

"I...I've dwelled on this for quite some time. O-one of the few things he s-said to me while in the c-club room, that I was 't-telling him to d-do it', I thought that m-maybe during our d-date throughout the day, I had a-accidentally s-sent him signals t-that I wanted something more."

"How-" Kirito began but was cut-off by Sachi continuing.

"I r-replicated that day the best I c-could with you t-today. A-almost down to the exact outfit. Embracing you, a-all of that. It all h-happened on that day as well. I wanted to s-see how it w-would end. Whether or not I had r-really sent signals like he told me I had."

"Sachi, I would never-"

"I know." Sachi smiled at Kirito. "And please don't believe I was f-faking affection, or anything like that. I-" Sachi's face began to blush. "I knew much earlier th-than today you would never do s-something like that to me, or any other g-girl."

"Then, why replicate it? Why not have a new experience?" Kirito asked.

"Please forgive what must come off as s-selfishness. I've thought a-a lot about what this would do for me. I thought, if I could change this day into a g-good memory, things w-would be better.

"Is today a good memory?"

"Yes."

"Do you feel like things are better?"

"Yes."

"I don't think it's selfish." Kirito assured.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry." Sachi began to cry again, pressing her head back into Kirito's shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"Y-you must feel used. I'm so s-sorry." Sachi sobbed harder.

"I'm ok. I'm glad I can help." Kirito smiled.

"You have n-no idea, what today has done for me."

"I'm just happy that maybe you'll be happier."

Sachi's sobs began to quiet, and she calmed back down. She pushed Kirito back so he was laying down. She laid to his side, his arm around her, and her head on his shoulder. Kirito was taken back by the motion.

Sachi let out a sigh and smiled. "This feels nice."

"I'm sorry you had to relive it."

"I'll be ok. But what about you, are you ok? I want to make sure you're happy as well."

"Yeah." Came a somewhat distant reply from Kirito.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Keita..."

"Kirito, please. Don't hurt him or anything like that." a look of concern overtook Sachi's face. "I'll probably never forgive him-"

"Neither will I, for what he did to-"

"But, he's only been cordial since then. And everyone else is around also. He wouldn't dare try anything with them around."

"What if when they're not around?"

"I have you to be alone with now, don't I?"

"Of course." Kirito reassured.

Sachi giggled. "Such a strong response."

"What were you expecting then?"

"I'm not certain. I'm just glad you'll be around. That you decided to stay."

"How could I leave now?"

"I wouldn't blame you if you would. I w-wanted to say something earlier today, but couldn't. Kirito, I know how much stronger you are."

A look of shock overcame Kirito's face. "How did you…?"

"I'm sorry. I accidentally looked when I woke up that morning in your room. I wasn't meaning to and-" Sachi blushed once more.

"It's ok. Just keep it between us."

Sachi nodded in compliance.

A few moments in silence passed, while the two inched ever closer to dozing off to sleep.

"Kirito, may I sleep here tonight?" Sachi asked tenderly.

"I wouldn't want it any other way." Kirito said, accepting Sachi.

"Well, this is uncomfortable then." Sachi stated.

"What do you mean?" Kirito inquired.

Just after he asked, a brief white light enveloped Sachi's torso and waist. She had unequipped her shirt and skirt, now just simply adorned in her underwear. Her bra was a simple dark blue with a white bow adorned on the bridge. Her lower underwear the same color, with a matching bow at the center front of the waistband. Kirito's face blushed a bright red, and a nervous look came upon him.

Sachi giggled. "What's the matter?"

"It's uh-w-well I wasn't-" Kirito tried to form a competent sentence.

Sachi giggled once again. "You plan on sleeping in that?"

"Wha-oh no, I guess not." Kirito nervously unequipped down to his boxers.

"It wouldn't be fair for me to make you uncomfortable in your own bed."

"It's how I usually sleep."

"As I said earlier, I don't want to impose on you."

"I would have stayed dressed, if you wanted me to. And you didn't have to-"

"I feel closer to you like this." Sachi concluded.

Sachi was overtaken by comfort in Kirito's presence at this moment. Lying skin to skin, Sachi knew even in this vulnerable position, she would be safe, as long as she was with him.

Sachi felt so natural and relaxing to Kirito. He felt as though she brought peace to him. With her next to him, he felt like he had a purpose. A cause to fight for everyday. Someone to keep safe, and someone to hold.

A soft pattering of rain began to tap against the window.

"I don't think this could get any better." Sachi commented. The rain provided a soothing noise to fall asleep to.

Kirito pulled up the sheets and blankets over them, covering Sachi up to her neck, while leaving Kirito's collarbone upward exposed.

"Do you mind if I get closer?" Sachi asked.

"Not at all."

Sachi nudged her way against Kirito even more. He felt her hand rest on his chest. She stirred a little bit from this position. He felt the fabric of her bra move across his side several times as she stirred.

"Everything ok?" Kirito asked.

"Y-yeah. Um, do you mind if I get a little bit more comfier? I guess that's the best w-way to put it."

"Go ahead." Kirito thought he would need to move so she could shift positions. Instead he saw a white light glow from beneath the sheets, and felt something very soft press against his side.

"Much better." Sachi let out a relieved sigh.

Kirito's face blushed a bright red, his nervous expression returning.

"Um are you-?" Kirito asked.

Sachi giggled as she felt Kirito's heartbeat accelerate. "No peeking." Sachi said with a coy smile. "Thank you for today."

A few quiet moments passed.

"Kirito, can I ask you one last thing today?" Sachi asked before they drifted off to sleep.

"What is it?"

"What's your name?"

"Kazuto Kirigaya."

"I like it." Sachi smiled, feeling ever closer to Kirito.

"Can I know yours?"

"Saori Nagase."

The two fell asleep, embraced in the security of each other's presence and warmth. A quiet, peaceful night save for the soft rainfall that could be heard against the inn building.


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Echoes Of The Abyss

Kirito sat kneeled on a stone floor, the stone warmed by fires recently extinguished. The room was dimly lit by blue torch sconces around the room. His arms were wrapped around a girl clad in white, kneeling in front of him.

"Kirito, how have you been?" The girl asked him. Her head resting on his shoulder.

"I can't say." Came his reply.

"You've taken on more responsibility."

"That's one way of thinking of it."

"What am I supposed to think?"

"I don't know."

"Do you still care about me?"

"Of course."

"Look me in my eye and tell me you do." The girl pulled away from his shoulder, her glistening hazel eyes meeting his dark grey.

"I do."

"Liar. Why are you a liar?"

"I'm not-"

Before Kirito could finish a sword pierced through the girls back and out her chest. A look of horror and shock overcame Kirito as he jumped to his feet and drew his sword. As the body of the girl fell to the ground, Kirito was met with a creature looming behind her.

The creature stood at least 7 feet tall on four crustacean like legs that were pointed at the end, and was a flowing ethereal black with wispy white tendrils flowing out of the back of its head. The two clashed swords. Steel could be heard echoing throughout the empty chamber.

Kirito eventually thrust his sword through the abomination's chest. After going limp, the creature dissipated into the darkness.

Kirito knelt at the barely alive body of the girl. He looked above her.

" **HP:0"**

Kirito took her hands in his. Tears began to run down his face.

"I'm so sorry." Kirito began to sob.

"Do you remember our night in the forest?"

"Of course."

"I wish we could go back."

Kirito could only sob instead of replying.

"What will you choose?" The girl asked.

"I...I don't know."

"I want you to choose a future with me."

"I...I don't know how to now."

"You've broken it then."

"No! I-I'm so sorry." Kirito sobbed once more.

Out of the darkness the creature emerged once more, silently materializing behind Kirito. Kirito felt a chilled steel pierce his body. He fell onto the ground next to the girl.

" **HP:0"** Kirito looked up at his health gauge.

The two still had their hands interlocked. He began to feel a beacon of warmth standing against the darkness of the chill of death.

"Let's go, together." The girl smiled.

"No! This isn't-" Kirito began to say defiantly.

Just as Kirito answered a pit of darkness engulfed Kirito, he fell through the ground and into the black abyss below. His arm reaching out, giving a futile attempt of reaching out to the girl.

The darkness around Kirito echoed his name.

"Kirito….."

"Kirito…."

"Kazuto!"

 _7th May 2023. Aincrad, Floor 15,Synethia Inn, 2:33 AM, Aincrad Standard Time._

"Kazuto!" Sachi's voice got louder and louder.

Kirito sprung up, he could feel adrenalin pump in his body. He went to draw a non existent weapon from an imaginary scabbard on his back.

"Is everything ok? What's wrong?" Kirito turned to look at Sachi. She was almost crying, with a concerned look on her face. She sat up as well, bringing a blanket up with her and wrapping it around herself as to cover her front. She turned to face Kirito.

Sachi gently placed both hands on Kirito's shoulders.

"What's going on? Why are you awake? Are you ok?" Kirito asked Sachi.

"Kirito…" The look of concern began to deepen on Sachi's face.

"What's-" The adrenaline stopped releasing. Kirito could feel his body clammed with sweat. "What's-" He began to take inventory of the room around him, slowly recognizing his surroundings. The rain was still beating against the window of the inn. Sachi was still next to him. They were alone.

"You, y-you…" Sachi began nervously. "You started t-tossing and turning. I woke up and felt your heart. It's like you were fighting for your life. I started getting s-scared, and tried to wake you u-up."

Kirito pulled Sachi to him in an embrace, his hand pressed on part of her exposed back.

"I'm sorry to have scared you. I'm ok." Kirito tried to assure her.

Sachi pulled away from Kirito and laid back down at his side. Kirito did the same, resting his head back on his pillow. She nestled in even closer to him now.

"Kirito...please…" Sachi began to plead as tears started running down her cheeks. She took her hand and started massaging his chest. She could feel his heartbeat slow down.

"What is it?"

"Please...tell me what's wrong. I want to help you." Sachi pleaded.

"It's...I'm not sure I can put it into words." Kirito responded.

"Please. I'll do anything to help you. It's only good of me to after-"

"I don't want to worry you."

"It's hard not to after what just happened."

"I'll take care of it."

"I...O-ok." Sachi concluded. She didn't want to anger or annoy Kirito. Sachi began to rest her eyes once again.

Sachi waited until Kirito fell back asleep before actually drifting off her self. The rain continued to its rhythm against the window.

 _7th May 2023. Aincrad, Floor 15,Synethia Inn, 12:05 PM, Aincrad Standard Time_

Rays of the afternoon sun illuminated the inn room through the semi-transparent curtain. Kirito felt his eyes slowly open and clear up. He looked over at Sachi, peacefully asleep next to him, her hand still on his chest. He gently placed her hand back next to her, in a natural position. As gently as he could, he got up from bed, equipped his clothes, and made his way down to the inn's cafe.

He ordered two black teas, as well as several muffins, and carried them back up to his inn room. On his way up the stairs-

"Hey, Kirito!" Keita said, bumping into him.

"Hey...what's going on?" Kirito replied. A flurry of emotions ranging from anger onwards surged through Kirito at the sight of Keita. 'Stay calm' Kirito thought to himself.

"Nothing much. Just getting back from a few guild errands. Going to enjoy another day off?"

"Yeah."

"Do anything fun yesterday?"

"No." Kirito tried to hide a slight blush starting on his face.

"Ah, I see you're a man of many words today." Keita remarked.

"Sorry. I am just waking up." Kirito replied as an excuse.

"I understand." Keita smiled. "I never saw Sachi yesterday, and when I knocked on her inn room door she wasn't there. Did you happen to see her?"

Kirito's blush began to deepen. "No, I didn't. Maybe she's taking the days off in some of the smaller towns."

"That's a good point. Well, I won't start worrying unless she doesn't show up for training tomorrow."

"Yeah, I wouldn't be too concerned just yet." Kirito replied.

"Well, anyway. Enjoy your second day off. We're hitting it hard again tomorrow!"

"Thanks, you too." Kirito ended the conversation and made it back to his inn room without further interruption.

* * *

Sachi was awake by the time Kirito got back to the room. She saw him walk in with the tray of 'breakfast'.

"O-oh y-you didn't h-have to-" Sachi began nervously.

"It's alright. It's the least I could do after waking you up last night." Kirito simply smiled back at Sachi.

Sachi sat up, blankets still wrapped around her, and sat on the edge of the side of the bed. Kirito pulled up the desk chair and sat facing her. The two enjoyed tea and pastries for breakfast at the quaint hour of 12 in the afternoon.

"Th-thank you f-for l-last n-night." Sachi blushed and stammered out, breaking the silence.

"Hmmm? What? Oh yeah." Kirito blushed and scratched the back of his head.

"I...I don't want to leave now, Kirito." Sachi began.

"What do you mean?" Kirito asked in reply.

"A-as in…" Sachi began to look down at her lap.

"What is it?"

"N-now that y-you know a-about K-Keita…I'm not sure….I-I'm not sure I-I can f-face him a-again."

"Hey," Kirito began, reaching an arm out to grab Sachi's hand. "It will be alright. You never have to go through that again."

"T-thank you. I-I'm glad I c-could tell y-you...I'm so h-happy that y-yesterday was a b-better memory." Sachi looked up and smiled at Kirito. He just simply smiled back.

"T-thank you." In a spontaneous moment of courage Sachi leaned forward towards Kirito and kissed him. After getting over the initial shock, Kirito warmed up to her touch, and placed his hands at her sides. The action only seemed to embolden Sachi, who's motions grew more intense. Eventually she made her way onto Kirito's lap, only covered by sheets.

"You-" Kirito wanted to say in a brief reprieve, but before he could finish Sahci continued expressing her love. Kirito could feel Sachi's body grow warmer and warmer against her. Eventually Sachi eased, and let Kirito talk.

"I…"

"What is it?"

"I...nevermind."

"I-Is this o-ok?" Sachi gingerly asked.

"Yeah." Kirito responded without thinking too hard about the situation. Sachi continued her expression of love and passion. Sachi guided Kirito's hands across her body.

"I w-want you t-to know m-me. To be a-accepted by y-you." Sachi said.

"You already are. Sachi if you want to stop, you can. I know-"

"I d-don't want to." Sachi continued her embrace. Kirito met her motions with his own.

Eventually Sachi eased away, and held her head close, facing Kirito's.

"K-Kirito...K-Kazuto...I...think I l-love you." Sachi stammered out before leaning back in, continuing her embrace.

The words impacted Kirito like a car hitting him crossing the street. Sachi could feel Kirito ease with his actions towards her.

"What's w-wrong?" Sachi asked?

Kirito shoved several feelings down before responding. "Nothing…"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Once more Sachi continued to kiss Kirito.

The two continued for a while longer before Sachi pulled away, and rested her head on Kirito's shoulder.

"Kazuto...y-you're what...this i-is s-someone who c-cares for m-me feels l-like."

"Saori…"

* * *

Later that night, Kirito and Sachi laid in bed much like the night previous. Sachi was quietly asleep next to Kirito. Her chest once again pressed up against his side, and her hand laying on his chest. 'It's gotta be one or two in the morning' Kirito silently thought to himself, as he lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. He could feel a tightness in his chest. His mind was constantly wandering to a place of guilt. In his head he could hear the words of the girl in his dream the night prior.

"I want you to choose a future with me." The girl's words echoed across his thoughts.

"I don't know how…" Kirito responded once again.

Kirito continued to lay awake until Sachi woke up later that morning.

"Good morning." Sachi said with a smile, opening her eyes to the morning dawn and seeing Kirito awake. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah." Kirito responded.

"I love you, Kirito." Sachi said, reassuring her feelings from the previous day.

"I...love you too." Kirito managed to reply.


End file.
